Autumn night at the open window
makes bed-curtains float and sway.
I gaze up at the bright moon, send
such love a thousand radiant miles.
translated by David Hinton
thinking of a loved one
Thoughts Of You Unending by Li Po (Li Bei)
Thoughts of you unending
here in Ch’ang-an,
crickets where the well mirrors year-end golds cry out
autumn, and under a thin frost, mats look cold, ice-cold.
My lone lamp dark, thoughts thickening, I raise blinds
and gaze at the moon. It renders the deepest lament
empty. But you’re lovely as a blossom born of cloud,
skies opening away all bottomless azure above, clear
water all billows and swelling waves below. Skies endless
for a spirit in sad flight, the road over hard passes
sheer distance, I’ll never reach you, even in dreams,
my ruins of the heart,
thoughts of you unending.
translated by David Hinton
memories of you: for K
there was a woman
on the train
who kept brushing
her long long hair
tossing it back
over her shoulder
the way I’ve seen
you do
sitting in your house shirt
in your bedroom
the same motion
before you would blow
a kiss
my way
suddenly
I am lost
in memories
of you
Jade Steps Pliant by Hsieh T’iao
Palace at dusk, the pearl blind is lowered,
Drifting fireflies glide and come to rest;
Through the long night I sew a fine silk jacket–
My thoughts of you, when will they end?
translated by Ronald C. Miao
Neither Did I See Such Loves Nor Such Partings by Ilhan Berk
Each time I think of you
A gazelle jumps down, drinking
Water among the reeds.
Each evening a green olive
And a piece of sky take me
Boldly to your arms.
Each time I think of you
Roses grow at my fingers,
I give water to horses,
Loving the mountain more.
Leonard Durso 