the land of heart’s desire
is never far away
bluebird, go find out the path–
show us how to get there!
translated by David Young
love poem
from Untitled Love Poem 1 by Li Shang-yin
love is a total waste of time
you and I know that
but there’s something about its madness
that opens the eyes and clears the mind
translated by David Young
The Jackfruit by Ho Xuan Huong
I am like a jackfruit on the tree.
To taste you must plug me quick, while fresh;
the skin rough, the pulp thick, yes,
but oh, I warn you against touching–
the rich juice will gush and stain your hands.
translated by Nguyen Ngoc Bich
tanka 3 by Ono no Komachi
This night of no moon
There is no way to meet him.
I rise in longing–
My breast pounds, a leaping flame,
My heart is consumed in fire.
translated by Donald Keene
tanka 2 by Ono no Komachi
When my love becomes
All-powerful,
I turn inside out
My garments of the night,
Night dark as leopard-flower.
translated by Geoffrey Bownas & Anthony Thwaite
untitled tanka by Lady Kasa
To love someone
Who does not return that love
Is like offering prayers
Back behind a starving god
Within a Buddhist temple.
translated by Harold P. Wright
untitled poem 2 by Hwang Chin-i
The blue hill is my desire,
the green stream my beloved’s love.
Even if the stream flows away,
how can the hill ever change?
Never forgetting the hill, I wonder,
does the stream cry as it leaves?
translated by Ko Won
untitled poem 1 by Hwang Chin-i
I cut in two
A long November night, and
Place half under the coverlet,
Sweet-scented as a spring breeze.
And when he comes, I shall take it out,
Unroll it inch by inch, to stretch the night.
translated by Peter H. Lee
THIS COULDN’T HAPPEN AGAIN by Paul Blackburn
the heavy pressure
of the presence of your body in the room
moving
O love,
is the end of my
imaginings
this late afternoon
feeling again at this window
the sensation of weight received
in that displacement
the small waves
lapping against me
constantly
one last Valentine Day’s post: an old favorite of mine: a tanka by Akahito
I wish I were close
To you as the wet skirt of
A salt girl to her body.
I think of you always.
Suma no ama no
Shio yaki ginu no
Narenaba ka
Hito hi mo kimi wo
Wasurete omowamu
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
Leonard Durso 