The Art of Huang JunBi (1898-1991): A Chinese Master

You ask me why I dwell here in the green mountains; I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care. As a peach-blossom floats down stream and disappears into the unknown, I too have another world that's far from men. - Li Bai

Dreams Of The Tang Dynasty #23

#23 These chaotic days have turned my hair gray, My body grew old in a season, Hiding in these mountains, Penetrated to the bone by cold serenity. My body suffers, but my soul finds rest In the quiet frosty pines - Cold breath illuminated by the sunrise. I remember the greener days of my childhood, …

Dreams of The Tang Dynasty #20

#20 There is a man who lives Halfway down the mountain. He and his young daughter of eight years Have joined me on walks by the river. She has taken an interest in my old pipa And I have taken her as a student. It is the greatest delight of my old age To have …

Dreams of The Tang Dynasty #19

#19 My hands no longer work like they used to Stiff and achy, my fingers hurt to move. I long for music, but my pipa sits unplayed. I’ve carried it with me some days, Hoping to meet someone on the road Who can play me a familiar tune, any tune. AD886 龙火花 Long HuoHua Born …

Dreams Of The Tang Dynasty #18

#18 This lonely mountain house, Is the only place my heart can rest. I wake up in the cold morning light, And go walking the quiet wooded paths. Our country crumbles around us, But the world of men means little here. Emperors rise and fall; sons and fathers die, But the pines and peaks remain …

Dreams of The Tang Dynasty #7

#7 Everyone in the capitol is a poet, No one in the capitol is a poet. The poetry which flickered inside me, Is buried now in an unmarked grave. I thought I saw her face on the street, But I see her face in everything. The mist creeps in over the mountains, I wish I could …

Lord Byron – Stanzas To The Po

Stanzas To The Po River, that rollest by the ancient walls, Where dwells the lady of my love, when she Walks by thy brink, and there perchance recalls A faint and fleeting memory of me; What if thy deep and ample stream should be A mirror of my heart, where she may read The thousand …

Peach Blossom Stream

There is no rest beside this stream, no love. Once a lotus root is severed, it won't grow again. Where once I waited by the red bridge rail I walk through yellow leaves alone. Mountains rise, green above the mist. The red sun rides a wild goose into the dusk. I drift like winds in …

Hills Surround Me

The hills surround me, and Tell me to live my life, Sowing the seeds, Tilling the land. Build a house below a hill, Bear sons, bear daughters; Plant pumpkins along the mud walls. Live like wild roses Live like wormwood. The hills surround me, and Tell me to live like clouds, Tell me to live …

Flower Petals On The Sleeves

The sky far away Above cold mountain rocks. Wild birds Cry mournfully. The clouds flow A thousand miles down the river. The wanderer's long sleeves Are wet from flower petals. Twilight over a riverside village Where wine is mellow. When this night is over, Flowers will fall in that village. The heart is sad and …

Long Drive Home

Long drive home Lost in the mountains Everyone in the car is irritable But I don't mind. I wish they'd drop me off On the side of the road So I could watch the rain Coming in over the smokey hills

Insomnia – Lu Yu

Even when I fall asleep early, My nights are long and full of bitterness. Tonight, tortured with insomnia, Memories of the past flood back Until they have exhausted me. Alone in the house beside a smokey lamp, I rub my heavy eyelids And idly turn the pages of my notebook. Again and again I scratch …

The Signature of All Things (excerpt) Kenneth Rexroth

My head and shoulders, and my book In the cool shade, and my body Stretched bathing in the sun, I lie Reading beside the waterfall — Boehme’s “Signature of all Things.” Through the deep July day the leaves Of the laurel, all the colors Of gold, spin down through the moving Deep laurel shade all …