Sleeping in spring oblivious of dawn
everywhere I hear birds
after the wind and rain last night
I wonder how many petals fell
translated by Red Pine
T’ang Dynasty
Seeing Off Chu Ta Leaving For Ch’in by Meng Hao-jan
For an unemployed gentleman bound for Wuling
a first-rsate sword is worth a ton of gold
I remove this in parting and give it to you
a simple piece of my heart
translated by Red Pine
In Reply to Li Huan by Wei Ying-wu
I left the Yiching in the woods
now I drift with the gulls by the stream
among the singers of the ways of Ch’u
to whom do you most often turn
translated by Red Pine
posted ahead of time for my good friend Jeff Schwaner’s reading pleasure
For Gentleman-in-Attendance Kao by Kao Ch’an
The green peach of heaven thrives in the dew
the red apricot of the sun flourishes by the clouds
the lotus that rises from a river in fall
doesn’t blame the East Wind for not blooming sooner
translated by Red Pine
Spending the Night at Yunmen Temple Pavilion by Sun T’I
At Incense Pavilion below East Peak
the flowers in the mist were from another world
I held up a lantern on a deep mountain night
and pulled back the curtain on a lakeland fall
the swans stayed behind on the walls
the Dipper and the Ox spent the night in the window
the road to Heaven seemed so close again
I dreamed I was traveling with clouds
translated by Red Pine
Chuchou’s West Stream by Wei Ying-wu
I love unnoticed plants that grow beside a stream
orioles singing overhead somewhere in a tree
at dusk the current quickens fed by springtime rain
I pull myself across an unmanned country ferry
translated by Red Pine
Letter Home by Li Shang-yin
You ask when I’ll be back–
I wish I knew!
night rain on Pa Mountain
overflows the autumn ponds
when will we trim the candle wick
under our own west window?
I’ll be telling you this story
night rain will be falling.
translated by David Young
Thoughts on a Quiet Night by Li Pai (Li Po)
Before my bed the light is so bright
it looks like a layer of frost
lifting my head I gaze at the moon
lying back down I think of home
translated by Red Pine
Thinking of My Home in Ch’ang-an While Traveling with the Army on the Ninth by Ts’en Shen
If only I could climb somewhere
but no one sends me wine
my poor distant garden of mums
blooms by a battlefield now
translated by Red Pine
Saying Goodbye on the Yi River by Lo Pin-wang
Here where Yen Tan said goodbye
a hero raised his hat with his courage
the men of the past are gone
but the water is still cold today
translated by Red Pine
This is Lo Pin-wang’s reference to a failed attempt to kill a tyrant and I post it for all those, here in Turkey and beyond, who oppose tyrants. The struggle never ends.
Leonard Durso 