from Burial Songs: 3 by T’ao Ch’ien

Day won’t dawn again in a thousand years,
and what can all our wisdom do about it?

Those who were just here saying farewell
return to their separate homes. And though

my family may still grieve, the others
must be singing again by now. Once you’re

dead and gone, what then? Trust yourself
to the mountainside. It will take you in.

translated by David Hinton

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