the chill
in the air
as a future
teeters
on the edge
of a century
slowly burns off
as the sun
climbs high
in the sky
over the city
The Southern Room Over the River by Su Tung-p’o
The room is prepared, the incense burned.
I close the shutters before I close my eyelids.
The patterns of the quilt repeat the waves of the river.
The gauze curtain is like a mist.
Then a dream comes to me and when I awake
I no longer know where I am.
I open the western window and watch the waves
Stretching on and on to the horizon.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
Spring Night by Su Tung-p’o
The few minutes of a Spring night
Are worth ten thousand pieces of gold.
The perfume of the flowers is so pure.
The shadows of the moon are so black.
In the pavilion the voices and flutes are so high and light.
In the garden a hammock rocks
In the night so deep, so profound.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
a fine memory: for Misook
without a partner
she dances
in the center
of the room
oblivious to the couples
with abandon
she twirls whirls
her dress floating
above her knees
and my eyes mist
remembering this
a fine memory
The Turning Year by Su Tung-p’o
Nightfall. Clouds scatter and vanish.
The sky is pure and cold.
Slowly the River of Heaven turns in the Jade Vault.
If tonight I do not enjoy life to the full,
Next month, next year, who knows where I will be?
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
Epigram by Su Tung-p’o
I fish for minnows in the lake.
Just born, they have no fear of man.
And those who have learned,
Never come back to warn them.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
missing the sea
the gulls cry
stranded on concrete balconies
missing the sea
poem 4 by Ötomo no Yakamochi
Mist floats on the Spring meadow.
My heart is lonely.
A nightingale sings in the dusk.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
a response of sorts to poem 3 by Yakamochi: on the beach
there
on the beach
a girl’s tan deepens
while a boy watches
in silent reverie
poem 3 by Ötomo no Yakamochi
In the spring garden
Where the peach blossoms
Light the path beneath,
A girl is walking.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
Leonard Durso 