Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Bamboo and Plum Blossom
Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Meng Chiao (751-814)

 
3
 
Triple Gorge one thread of heaven over
ten thousand cascading thongs of water,
 
slivers of sun and moon sheering away
above, and wild swells walled-in below,
 
splintered spirits glisten, a few glints
frozen how many hundred years in dark
 
gorges midday light never finds, gorges
hungry froth fills with peril. Rotting
 
coffins locked into tree roots, isolate
bones twist and sway, dangling free,
 
and grieving frost roosts in branches,
keeping lament's dark, distant harmony
 
fresh. Exile, tattered heart all scattered
away, you'll simmer in seething flame
 
here, your life like fine-spun thread,
its road a trace of string traveled away.
 
Offer tears to mourn the water-ghosts,
and water-ghosts take them, glimmering.
 
 

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