Tuesday, December 31, 2019

THE ANSWER 


Not simply
the moment

but its
after-

glow.



Monday, December 30, 2019

AFTER THE CHINESE MASTERS 


THINKING OF HAN YU

A goose for
supper, then.

"Which to slaughter?"
the boy asks.

"Kill the one
who cannot sing."

~

AFTER TWO LINES
BY YUAN CHEN

The river wind
sings in the trees

as in a dream.
I sit and watch

the sun come up
and think how far

we are now from
one another.

~

AFTER "LATE SPRING"
BY YUAN CHEN

Birds talking and stirring the dust;
wind closing the gate at sunset;

petals falling off the flowers:
here I sit, alone and lonely.

~

AFTER TWO LINES FROM
TU MU'S "THE CRANE"

All day alone,
the crane, sad

with only
his shadow.

~

AFTER SSU-K'UNG T'U'S
'IN THE COUNTRY'

All night under
a shelter of
pines I sit
drinking wine

and thinking
the rain is
flower petals
falling all

around me,
thinking why would
that old monk

I talked to want
to see someone
like me again.

~


WHAT IS LOST 


What is lost
in autumn?

Leaf falling,
green gone from

this grey world,
the turn which

tears your heart.



Sunday, December 29, 2019

TO THOSE POETS 


You know,
some tricks

just aren't
worth learning,

and aren't
worth doing

once you can.



Saturday, December 28, 2019

DESIRE 


What she wanted
most was morning,

a certain moistness
in the moment.



Friday, December 27, 2019

AFTER THE CHINESE MASTERS 

AFTER LINES FROM
MENG CHIAO'S
SEEING OFF MASTER T'AN

Better we should
spend our time

trying to fly--
none of us who

depend on poetry
has gotten fat.

~

THINKING OF WANG WEI

You wonder
what is truth?

The fisherman
fishes.

~


AFTER A FEW LINES
BY CHIAO JAN

The wind says
keep moving,

even at
evening,

even in
autumn.

~

AFTER TWO LINES
BY KUAN HSIU

Poets chanting
like madmen

set the mountains
to dancing.

~

AFTER A LINE
BY LIU YU-HSI

She danced
as if
spring had

come and
all along
the river's

green terrace
swans were
rising.

~


BROKEN / SILENCE 


Broken
silence,

heart-
beat or

thunder.



Thursday, December 26, 2019

THE SURPRISE 


The surprise
of your loving

as you come
up behind me,

bending us
toward evening.



Wednesday, December 25, 2019

ANOTHER MORNING 


The cook is
frying a ham steak.

The sear of it,
the aroma.

The waitress is
pouring coffee,

hot and black
and slightly burned.

Somewhere
in the distance,

a siren.
There are stories

you can tell and
stories you can't.



Tuesday, December 24, 2019

DAYLIGHT 


Daylight.

The taste
of morning.

Her breasts
cupped in
my hands.

Heaven
all the way
down.



Monday, December 23, 2019

SEE: HOW FAR 


See: how far
from love we've

gone when love
is all we

want. Foolish-
ness is our

last choice,
as I touch

you, and you
accept it;

as mirrors
accept

light and
the night

gives it back.



AFTER THE CHINESE MASTERS 


TS'AO CHIH'S WISDOM

The poet
sees the world
as it is

for the first time

a cicada
sheds its skin.

~

SAYING GOODBYE
TO LO PIN-WANG

Yes, the dead are still
gone from us and
the water is cold.

~

AFTER A LINE
IN CHANG CHIH-HO'S
FISHERMAN'S SONG

Drunk, fishing late, one
does not feel the cold.

~

AFTER ANOTHER LINE
IN CHANG CHIH-HO'S
FISHERMAN'S SONG

To find joy
in facing

wind and water
you don't need

to be a saint.

~

AFTER A LINE FROM
MENG CHIAO'S
FAILING THE EXAMINATION

A knife wound,
my sadness.

~


Sunday, December 22, 2019

FEEDING THE BIRDS: SOLSTICE 2019 


Hands which bless
the birds bless
all things.

I feed them
in the cold.
They thank me

with their noise.
Birds which bless
the man bless

all things, too,
all the way
to heaven.


THE IS-NESS 


The is-ness
of this

existence
is as

stars are
to sky,

points which
light marks

when we
look, then

they fade
as all things

fall beyond
understanding.

Beauty rides
a pale horse.

You would
believe this,

if you
could see it;

you could
see it, if

you believed.



Saturday, December 21, 2019

ALL MORNING 


All morning
the light lifts

the sound of
birds to fit

the silence. 



Friday, December 20, 2019

AFTER THE CHINESE MASTERS 


AFTER TWO LINES
BY SHAO YUNG

My wine cup glows
red with reflected

flowers and,
yes, to see them

how can I not
go home drunk?

~

AFTER TWO LINES
BY CHAO KU

Where
is the singer

when the song
is done

and the last
note lingers?

~

AFTER A LINE
BY WANG CHUNG

My one success,
too, has been
getting old.

~

AFTER TWO LINES
IN TZU-YEH SONGS #4

Is it the spring
breeze which turns her

mind to love, which
undresses her?

~

SHE THINKS OF 'LET ME GALLOP,
LET ME GO' IN THE SHIH CHING

I, too, walk the slope
picking toad-lilies.

A woman like me
will find her way.

~


ALL WHICH 


All which
I see

you see
and which

you see
I see

though we
may not

notice
these things

or may,
which means

one of us
may catch

his breath
in wonder.



Thursday, December 19, 2019

THE OLD MONK 


The old monk knows.
Though his desire

might not be quick
as a young man's

his banked fire
smolders and waits.



Wednesday, December 18, 2019

AS IF / THE FLOWER 


As if
the flower,

its petals
moist,

trembling
as it

opens,
accepts

its own
emptiness.



Tuesday, December 17, 2019

IN EVERYTHING 


In everything
we repeat

we repeat
everything.

That is the
poet's duty,

to keep the wheel
in motion,

the mind moving
wind on water,

making one wave,
another.



Monday, December 16, 2019

ALL THAT 


All that which
fits the darkness
fits the night,

fits a silence
waiting for
morning light.



Sunday, December 15, 2019

THE MONK ADJUSTS 


The monk adjusts
his solitude.

Another poem.



Saturday, December 14, 2019

THE EYE / NEEDS 


The eye
needs shadow

and light,
motion,

stillness.
The evening,

silence.



Friday, December 13, 2019

MASTER'S WISDOM 


The old monk
says: The path

to enlightenment
is like standing

in the rain.
I can't tell you

more than that.



Thursday, December 12, 2019

EVENING DEEPENS 


I lift my eyes.
The stars fly and
I fly with them.



Wednesday, December 11, 2019

LATE AUGUST SKY 


Mother Hawk
turns the world
to autumn.

All small things
avoid her shadow.
All small things

accept their lot.
We ourselves
lost our wisdom.

Mother Hawk
knows what is
left to gain.




Tuesday, December 10, 2019

ODOR / IS 


Odor
is door

inside out
where the

flowers are.



Monday, December 09, 2019

UNDERSTANDING 


Leave off
whispering,

I say, and
speak up.

The wind
rises.

The light
brightens.

The voice
of God

is lost
among

the birds'
chirping.

I have to
make my

guesses.



Sunday, December 08, 2019

THE DIFFERENCE 


The difference
with me is

I don't want
to understand

everything,
only this,

this moment.



Saturday, December 07, 2019

THE PLACE 


The place
I have found
is this

moment
in silence.



Wednesday, December 04, 2019

THE MONK 


The monk
is not
the poet.

The prayer
is not
the poem.

The wind
is not
the shaken

thing. Or
is it?



Tuesday, December 03, 2019

LOVE AND DEATH 


Each connects
to every

other. Work it,
baby, work it.



Monday, December 02, 2019

HOW MUCH 


How much of this
do you need
from me, O Lord?

You've given me
silence. I offer
only poems.



Sunday, December 01, 2019

CHICORY 


A moment
of chicory

in wind. A
swing of sun

against the
blue heart of

this last earth.
When we go

from here, it
will be gone.



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