Rich and full, all surging swells and white gulls in flight,
it flows springtime deep, its green a crystalline dye for robes.

Going south and coming back north, you grow older, older.
Late light lingers, farewell to a fishing boat bound for home.

translated by David Hinton

Kids keep  tugging at my robes, asking:
Why did it take you so long to come back?

And who were you fighting those months
and years to win all that silk-white hair?

translated by David Hinton

there are those moments
in life
when someone says
or does
something so astounding
either in brilliance or ignorance
that you go
what was that all about
and today
of all days
as I was out wandering
on these ancient streets
I had such a moment
and thought
they follow me
these people
halfway around the world
to keep me on my metaphoric toes
no sleepwalking here
for this long island kid
you can’t let your guard down
not for a moment
even if you think it’s safe
no sharks in sight
the water warm and inviting
uh huh
sure right
Norman Rockwell country
here in Turkey
but there is no safe harbor
no sign of relief
and no matter how hard you try
you just won’t get
what that was all about

Well, then, the last day the sharks appeared.
Dark fins appear, innocent
as if in fair warning. The sea becomes
sinister, are they everywhere?
I tell you, they break six feet of water.
Isn’t it the same sea, and won’t we
play in it any more?
I liked it clear and not
too calm, enough waves
to fly in on. For the first time
I dared to swim out of my depth.
It was sundown when they came, the time
when a sheen of copper stills the sea,
not dark enough for moonlight, clear enough
to see them easily. Dark
the sharp lift of the fins.

Singer of elegies of Yen and Chao
we meet where Chi Meng lived
words can’t exhaust this inch of our hearts
the sun is setting on the road ahead

translated by Red Pine

No, this pleasant afternoon
I cannot stay inside;
this free afternoon
I must go out in the air.

Into the laughing air
opening through the trees,
thousands of loves,
profound and waving.

The roses wait for me
bathing their flesh.
Nothing can keep me here;
I will not stay inside!

translated by Dennis Maloney