When will the last flower fall, the last moon fade?
So many sorrows lie behind.
Again last night the east wind filled my room—
O gaze not on the lost kingdom under the bright moon.
Still in her light my palace gleams as jade
(Only from bright cheeks beauty dies).
To know the sum of human suffering
Look at this river rolling eastward in the spring.
translated by Cyril Birch
Month: May 2021
that hole
there’s just no
getting away
from it
that hole
you left
in my heart
your words
didn’t quite catch
your words
that night
as you woke me
from my slumber
on the couch
the record still turning
on the turntable
the dog looking up
as I struggled
to my feet
my mind a haze
your words lost
like water
slipping through my fingers
like you
fading gradually
into the night
those words
still nagging
my memory
decades later
ten thousand miles
away
the shadow of her arms: for Lucy
the aroma
of her skin
the scent of heaven
and earth
mixed with the coming rain
to lie
against skin so smooth
and forget the dust
of this old world
to lose oneself
in the shadow
her arms cast
as they engulf
this weary exile
who has finally
come home
Leonard Durso 