Monday, May 28, 2007


Together, We All Go Out Under the Cypress Trees in the Chou Family Burial-Grounds

Today's skies are perfect for a clear
flute and singing koto. And touched

this deeply by those laid under these
cypress trees, how could we neglect joy?

Clear songs drift away anew. Emerald wine
starts pious faces smiling. Not knowing

what tomorrow brings, it's exquisite
exhausting whatever I feel here and now.


--From The Selected Poems of T'ao Ch'ien, translated by David Hinton

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