a girl sobs
quietly
as if not to disturb
the feral cats
watching from windows
the dogs sleeping
in doorways
the lone woman
wheeling her suitcase
down the hill
to a waiting cab
the lone old man
trudging by
who stops to ask
are you all right
she nods
thank you, yes
dabs tissue to eyes
and turns away
as she walks slowly
down a lonely street
lost to all
but her grief
sorrow
oh Türkiye: February 21, 2023
just when I thought
all my tears were shed
again the earth shook
unleashing the water
from my eyes
taking the lead from Jia Dao’s Inn at Niyang
in sorrow
they fade
those old friends
of mine
into the mist
of receding time
and I here stranded
in the present
straining to see
their faces
aching to hear
their voices
before I too
fade away
lost to those
I leave behind
on listening to Frank
who I wonder
did he sing to
not in night clubs
in Vegas
or in film
but in those lonely hours
with the bottle dry
or in the studio booth
pouring that heart
onto vinyl
for those of us
with empty bottles
at 2am
in the eyes
it’s the same smile
all these years
warm kind
looking out
to the world
yet there now
in the eyes
a touch of sorrow
perhaps
at this lingering awareness
of life
not always living up
to one’s expectation
rain of tears
words spoken
left out
in the rain
of tears
dissolve
heavy with tears
the song
floating up
from Iftar
sadder this night
heavy with tears
untitled poem by anonymous poet from the Kokin Wakashu, 9th-10th Century, Japan
This world of ours,
Before we can know
Its fleeting sorrows,
We enter it through tears.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
from Seven Sorrows by Wang Ts’an
I can’t sleep at night alone
but get up, put on a robe, and play the lute;
strings and paulownia wood know how I feel;
for me they make a sorrowful sound.
On a journey that has no end
dark thoughts are powerful and hard to bear!
translated by Burton Watson
I Did Not Know Before by Sowol Kim
I did not know before
that the moon rises every night.
I did not know before
that I would miss you so much.
I did not know before
how to watch the brightest moon.
I did not know before
how the moon would be my sorrow.
translated by Jaihiun Kim & Ronald B. Hatch
Leonard Durso 