appear . . . disappear . . .

just for fun,

i have gathered together some of my favourite words

from a group of chinese poets

and placed them next to each other in a kind of poetry collage.

~

people say the setting sun marks the edge of the sky,

i look towards the edge of the sky, but cannot see my home.

my home's beyond the edge of the clouds,

the road is long, and east or west, i have no-one to ask.

you ask me why the world must rise and fall;

tiny movements start up ripples,

light reflected in the ripples.

look up, look down, i linger on,

i feel as if here on this lake there is another heaven.

i watch a lone sail at the heavens' end. t.e. yanagiwara sailboat in lake near mt. fuji

riches and honours are floating clouds,

white clouds will drift on for all time.

white clouds drift slowly for a thousand years.

as day meets dusk, i close the wooden gate.

returning home, i close the door for now.

the autumn wind enters through the window,

the gauze curtain starts to flutter and fly.

m. matsu urban night scene 4

between the pines, the moon startles my heart.

t. seki misty moonlit night, farmhouse by river

i smile and think of home,

a foreign guest in a foreign land.

i raise my head and look at the bright moon,

and send my feelings a thousand miles in its light.

the path of the sun and moon, seems to come from within.

the splendid milky way, seems to come from inside.

ten thousand things are growing in the radiance.

words by cao cao, cui hao, li gou, yue fu, wang wei, ouyang xiu, meng haoran