August 2022
Author's Note: No, I don't read Chinese, but I do read all available translations in order to assay what the Chinese masters were trying to say, and that's what I try to say in contemporary English. I do recommend "translation" as a good way to learn more about what poetry is, and you might find what you've learned working itself into poems in your own voice. Just sayin'.
After Li Yu's "Sound of Autumn"
Last night
wind and rain.
The sound
of autumn
in the curtains.
The candles
sputtering.
The clock
tick-tick-ticking.
I hugged my
sleepless pillow.
I got up, sat
down, restless.
Worries are
like a river.
Life is a dream
about falling.
Drunkenness
is a heaven
where the road
stays steady.
I should
visit there
more often.
In this world
I can barely
walk at all.
After Li Yu's "Autumn Sorrow"
Without a word
I go up to my room
alone. What
the moon is
is a hook.
The tree in
the garden
sings my sorrow.
Whatever I cut
doesn't break.
Whatever I straighten
stays tangled.
Autumn makes
such a mess
of my heart.
After Han-Shan's Poem #63
If you encounter
a ghost or demon,
don't be frightened.
Stay calm and don't
try to grab it.
Call it by its
true name: it will
leave you. Burn
incense and pray.
Ask the monks for
help. Your problem
is no more than
a mosquito biting
at an iron ox.
©2022 Tom Montag
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