,i made my home amidst this human bustle
yet i hear no clamour from the carts and horses.
my friend, you ask me how this can be so?
a distant heart will tend towards like places.
from the eastern hedge,
i pluck chrysanthemum flowers,
and idly look towards the southern hills.
the mountain air is beautiful day and night,
the birds fly back to roost with one another.
i know that this must have some deeper meaning,
i try to explain, but cannot find the words.
drinking wine tao qian
"a distant heart will tend towards like places."
ReplyDeletesome words are so true they just take one's breath away
and this was written nearly seventeen hundred years ago pauline . . . . steven
ReplyDeleteSmitten with this: "a distant heart will tend towards like places." as Pauline is.
ReplyDeletethis must have some deeper meaning- perplexing always.
ReplyDeleteLove the little ball head plant in the photo! I want to pat them all and give them a cookie.
"I cannot find the words" as so often happens when I read your posts, Steven, though I feel them very much. Timeless feelings.
ReplyDeleteDon't ask me to explain it!
ReplyDeleteoh reya come on pleeeeeeeeeease!!!!!! hahaha!!! steven
ReplyDeletevalerianna - you caught the tender spot of connection . . . i crave the like places with all my heart . . . steven
ReplyDeletelinda sue - perplex no more . . . i am simple but i hide myself behind convolutions . . . it's about the sweet spot . . . . steven
ReplyDeleterachel - i know . . .part of the work of being human is learning to articulate the very subtle, the very powerful, the very rich in words and that is so very very difficult. steven
ReplyDeleteyes))))
ReplyDeleteat first i thought it was yours. i just had to check over my gushing on your latest post, laughing that perhaps tao qian had written. but this is exactly the point, isn't it? it is all of ours.
this is an incredible image, steven.
xo
erin