Feng-kan (c.800)

Sinking like a rock in the sea
by Feng-kan (Big Stick)

Sinking like a rock in the sea
drifting through the Three Worlds
poor ethereal creature
ever immersed in scenes
until a flash of lightning shows
life and death are dust in space

Mibu no Tadami (?)

It is true I love,
But the rumor of my love
Had gone far and wide,
When people should not have known
That I had begun to love.

Wang Wei (701-761)

Deep in the mountain wilderness
Where nobody ever comes
Only once in a great while
Something like the sound of a far off voice,
The low rays of the sun
Slip through the dark forest,
And gleam again on the shadowy moss.

Liu Yuxi (c. 772)

Black Gown Lane
Liu Yuxi 772

Beside Vermilian Bird Bridge
wild weeds bloom,
By entrance of Black Gown Lane
slanting evening sun.
In old times
swallows nested
in the mansions
of Wang and Xie,
Now they perch
in the in the homes
of humbler folk.

Lao Tzu (c. 600 BCE)

Meet it, and you do not see its beginning.
Follow it, and you do not see its end.
Stay with the ancient Way
in order to master what is present.
Knowing the primeval beginning is the essence of the Way.

Nalan Xingde (1655-1685)

The mountain, a march;
The river, a march;
The the uplands and over the Yu Kuan Pass I go.
Countless lamps in the tented darkness glow.
A night-watch of wind,
A night-watch of snow -
And a clamor that shatters my sleepless home-sick heart.
I know a garden where it is not so.

Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481)

A Fisherman

Studying texts and stiff meditation can make you lose your Original Mind.
A solitary tune by a fisherman, though, can be an invaluable treasure.
Dusk rain on the river, the moon peeking in and out of the clouds;
Elegant beyond words, he chants his songs night after night.

Taira no Kanemori (?-991)

Though I would hide it,
In my face it still appears--
My fond, secret love.
And now he questions me:
"Is something bothering you?"

Li Po (Li Bai-701-762)

Ballads Of Four Seasons: Summer



On Mirror Lake outspread for miles and miles,
The lotus lilies in full blossom teem.
In fifth moon Xi Shi gathers them with smiles,
Watchers o'erwhelm the bank of Yuoye Stream.
Her boat turns back without waiting moonrise
To yoyal house amid amorous sighs.


Li Po