I find solace
in reading poetry
written one thousand years ago
the same grief
the same laughter
the same drunken reverie
to know life
then as now
is a moment of joy
amid years of sorrow
is somehow reassuring
to this old man
passing through
Seeing the Year Out by Su Tung-p’o
Want to know what the passing year is like?
A snake slithering down a hole.
Half his long scales already hidden,
how to stop him from getting away?
Grab his tail and pull, you say?
Pull all you like–it does no good.
The children try hard not to doze,
chatter back and forth to stay awake,
but I say let dawn cocks keep still!
I fear the noise of watch drums pounding.
We’ve sat so long the lamp’s burned out.
I get up and look at the slanting Dipper.
How could I hope next year won’t come?
My mind shrinks from the failures it may bring.
I work to hold on to the night
while I can still brag I’m young.
translated by Burton Watson
RIP Joan Didion
From Slouching Towards Bethlehem
It is easy to see the beginnings of things, and harder to see the ends. I can remember now, with a clarity that makes the nerves in the back of my neck constrict, when New York began for me, but I cannot lay my finger upon the moment it ended, can never cut through the ambiguities and second starts and broken resolves to the exact place on the page where the heroine is no longer as optimistic as she once was. When I first saw New York I was twenty, and it was summertime, and I got off a DC-7 at the old Idlewild temporary terminal in a new dress which had seemed very smart in Sacramento but seemed less smart already, even in the old Idlewild temporary terminal, and the warm air smelled of mildew and some instinct, programmed by all the movies I had ever seen and all the songs I had ever heard sung and all the stories I had ever read about New York, informed me that it would never be quite the same again. In fact it never was.
Nothing In The World Is Permanent — A Pondering Mind
“Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.” ~ W. Somerset Maugham
Nothing In The World Is Permanent — A Pondering Mind
more than a number
she said
age is just a number
so typical
of the young
not understanding
age is more
than a number
but the creaking of bones
in the morning
the shortness of breath
after climbing 5 long flights
the slow diminishing of sight
when reading those beloved books
and the hearing of beating wings
as that dark angel
draws closer
as each night falls
from To the Tune of “The Court Fills with Fragrance” Part III by Su Dong-po
“Return to where I belong”
Where do I belong
Home near Min and Emei thousands of miles away
My hundred years nearly half gone
The coming days won’t be many
Suddenly I’ve seen another leap year at Huangzhou
All of my children
speak and sing in the local dialect
Friends from these mountains
with chicken and pork and festival wine
urge me to grow old at East Hill
What can I say
as I leave here
the events of our lives
come and go like a shuttle
I’ll soon be watching the autumn wind
stir crystal waves of the Luo
Lucky for these slender willows by my house
Thinking of me
no one will lop their tender branches
Pass the word
to elders along the Yangtze
sun my fishing cape now and then
translated by Yun Wang
;
To the Tune of”Southern Countryside” I by Su Dong-po
Frost is on the ground and the river has shrunk
Distant shoals appear amid shimmering green shallows
As the wine wears off I begin to feel the wind
I shiver
My torn hair clings to my head with too many thoughts
How can I give thanks to autumn
Let me say goodbye with this sparkling cup
Everything becomes a dream in the end
Let this be enough
Tomorrow even butterflies will mourn the chrysanthemums
translated by Yun Wang
skylark: for Aliona
hovering above
it sings
and spring erupts
down come walls
of gloom
of despair
a harbinger
of good tidings
waking at dawn
lighting the earth
fields flourish
flowers sprout
and hope
yes hope
fills the air
from To the Tue of “The Celestial by the River” III by Su Dong-po
I have long hated not owning my body
When does one forget worldly labor
Night deepens as wind calms water’s rippling silk
My small boat shall vanish from here
to travel life in rivers and seas
translated by Yun Wang
a young woman runs: for Aliona & Bucks
the sun overhead
heating the world
this autumn day
a young woman runs
her dog at her heels
her long blonde hair
pulled back
in a ponytail
bouncing in rhythm
to her strides
the dog lets out cries
twirling with joy
as they run
one afternoon receding
as another begins
bringing hope
to this old heart
that a new day
is not just coming
but is already here
Leonard Durso 