waking from a Red Cliff dream
black robe soaked with rain
trying to reach Heaven’s ear
it stands atop a pine
translated by Red Pine
13th Century Chinese poetry
Wheeling Hawk by Sung Po-jen
a bird of prey forgets its kind
it wheels and grabs a pigeon
feathered creatures share the sky
why this effort to oppress the weak
translated by Red Pine
Pepper Eyes by Sung Po-jen
lavishing poems on the first spring dawn
prayers for a thousand years
conquering winter and defying old age
outlasting the ice and the snow
translated by Red Pine
Fisherman’s Hat by Sung Po-jen
anchored out among the gulls
cold rain lashing his hat of leaves
he doesn’t mind fearsome waves
since discovering the joys afloat
translated by Red Pine
Crane on a Pine Crying to Heaven by Sung Po-jen
waking from a Red Cliff dream
black robe soaked with rain
trying to reach Heaven’s ear
it stands atop a pine
translated by Red Pine
Profile by Sung Po-jen
face to face is problematic
from the side the view is clearer
otherwise neither would know
the length of the other’s nostrils
translated by Red Pine
from Not Bowing to Old Age by Kuan Han-ch’ing
You can knock out my teeth and break my jaw.
You can cripple my legs and rip off my arms:
let heaven lay all these curses on me,
and I still won’t stop.
Except old Yama, the king of Hell
comes to call on me himself (and brings his fiends to fetch me),
when my soul turns to dirt,
and my animal shell falls straight into Hell,
then, and only then, I’ll quit this flowered path
I ramble on.
translated by J.P. Seaton
On the Lake by Hsu Yuan-chien
Orioles chatter madly in trees of red blossoms
egrets converge on a lake of tall grass
everyone loves a clear mild day
boats return at dusk on waves of flutes and drums
translated by Red Pine
Leonard Durso 