Revelations from Poet Atop A Mountain
After an arduous climb to the top of the mountain,
I looked back to see them looking at me;
Waiting for an answer, they queried,
“What do you see, ‘O Great One’ of the Ming Dynasty?”
What could I see? (Cloud cover below my feet.)
But I could hear echoes, and so I imagined tranquility
and painted a picture of myself
atop the mountain, leaning on a bramble staff
breathing deeply while gazing out far and free,
and put together words of poetry
to describe what I had heard and seen.
***
Poet On a Mountaintop by Shen Zhou, (Chinese, 1427–1509)
(translation from Indiana University)
White clouds sash-like
wrap mountain waists,
The rock terrace flies in space
distant, a narrow path.
Leaning on a bramble staff
far and free I gaze,
To warble of valley brook
I will reply, whistling.
***
i hate to
because
i want to
stay
awake
for to take
you
by the
hand and
shape
your clay
into a vase
you
needn't be
Ming Dynasty
for you
you please
me just being
Colombian