Horse Sorrow Poems

Chinese translations Li Bai

These are my modern English translations of Chinese poems by Li Bai, who was also known as Li Po.



Zazen on Ching-t’ing Mountain
by...

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The Ukraine rain fell long and hard
From clouds above on high,
But what were shed 
Were tears of red
To spill on fields awry.

As storms of rage...

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Within the frame a sepia scene
a dusty porch   a rickety chair   
the fabric of your dusky face creased
with ceaseless sunbaked woes
your...

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1.
Highest frigid mount
For a private, odd god walks
betrayed by the ghost

2.
Frosty timberland
A female, great Panther swims
in spite of the frost

3.
A snowy autumn
when a wooden, tall...

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You try your best, yet fall far short,
of what you know my will requires.
Cease by your strength, my grace to gain. 
Come unto me and...

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Alas
how they suffer
poverty seeds disease 
like a puddle breeds mosquitoes - 
the sickly buzz is everywhere..

the dirge of the drudge 
nowadays damn near everyone in...

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A ghost began whispering inside the soul's echo 
there one Trojan horse enters defeated 
spiritually the battle ground stands firmly fixed 
against those whom denounce...

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There's a fine line between fortune and fame 
I was riding with the Devil till my horse went lame 
I was all alone till loneliness...

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From the heart of green naïve village
surrounded by corps field, mosque, ponds, 
ancestral grave yard, school, college, 
madrasah (islamic school) etc he is

brothers, sisters with...

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The Black Hills wept for Thee

East of the Black Hills of South Dakota, 
On the Pine Ridge Reservation,
Live a proud tribe of Oglala Lakota, 
Part...

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-	Written August 11, 2018

I lay down in silent agony, left unsure,
Drowning in distress, yet happiness will be a stone, rolling back on me in an...

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I lie awake inside my mind's ride
Gotta body-quake it away side by side
I fly away from my cage inside
And…I…and I tried to peacefully hide

I…tried to...

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Wish I, That Time Within Its Flow


Wish I, that Time within its flow,
had sent forth my birth long ago.
In its union with Man and Fate,
had...

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"The Senate bill, unveiled today, is not a health care bill.
It’s a massive transfer of wealth from middle-class 
and poor families to the richest people...

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I looked into your open eyes-
no one else could hear my cries.
I knew the truth straight away-
your gallant spirit had flown away.

A spirit that was...

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