here
at the edge
of the sea
my mind settles
in that place
called serenity
a final home
of sorts
for one
too long
adrift
serenity
Birdsong Brook by Wang Wei
Mind at peace, cassia flowers fall,
Night still, spring mountain empty.
Moon rising startles mountain birds
Now and again sing from spring brook.
translated by Irving Y. Lo
Zaren on Jingting Mountain by Li Bai (Li Po)
The birds have vanished down the sky
and now the last cloud drains away.
We sit together, the mountain and me,
until only the mountain remains.
translated by Sam Hamill
Conversation Among Mountains by Li Po (Li Bai)
You ask why I live
in these green mountains
I smile
can’t answer
I am completely at peace
a peach blossom
sails past
on the current
there are worlds
beyond this one
translated by David Young
Conversation in the Mountains by Li Po (Li Bai)
If you were to ask me why I dwell among green mountains,
I should laugh silently; my soul serene.
The peach blossom follows the moving water;
There is another heaven and earth beyond the world of men.
translated by Robert Payne
Leonard Durso 