they cry
these gulls
like infants
no one here
to cradle them
rock them to sleep
a grandmother’s song
to ease them
into the fading light
I stand on my balcony
raise my glass
wishing them peace
this hot night
Month: June 2022
on clarity
there’s no other
method
to achieve clarity
than 3 fingers’ worth
of whiskey
at 3 am
from Returning to My Home in the Country No. 4 by T’ao Yüan-ming
In one generation both court and city change–
be assured, that’s no idle saying.
Man’s life is a phantom affair,
and he returns at last to the empty void.
translated by Burton Watson