(712–770)
Visiting the Monastery at Lung-men
I EXPLORED the grounds with monks this evening,
and now the night has passed.
Heavy silence rises all around us
while late moonlight spills through the forest.
The mountain rises almost into heaven.
Sleeping in the clouds is cold.
A single stroke of the early prayer-bell wakes me.
Does it also waken my soul?
[S.H.]
I Stand Alone
A FALCON hovers at the edge of the sky.
Two gulls drift slowly up the river.
Vulnerable while they ride the wind,
they coast and glide with ease.
Dew is heavy on the grass below,
the spider’s web is ready.
Heaven’s ways include the human:
among a thousand sorrows, I stand alone.
[S.H.]
Clear After Rain
LONG after rainfall, Sorceress Hills grow dark.
Now they brighten, stitched with gold and silver.
Green grass edges the darkening lake
and red clouds stream from the east.
All day long, the orioles call,
and cranes brush tall white clouds.
Once dry, the wildflowers bend and, there
where the wind is sweeping, fall.
[S.H.]
Moon, Rain, Riverbank
RAIN roared through, now
the autumn night is clear.
The water wears a patina of gold
and carries a bright jade star.
Heavenly River runs clear and pure,
as gently as before.
Sunset buries the mountains in shadow.
A mirror floats in the deep green void,
its light reflecting the cold, wet dusk,
dew glistening,
freezing on the flowers.
[S.H.]
Night Thoughts While Traveling
THIN grass bends on the breezy shore,
and the tall mast seems lonely in my boat.
Stars wide low across the wide plain,
and the moon is tossed by the Yangtze.
What is fame and literary status?
The old and infirm should leave office.
Adrift, drifting: what is left for the lone gull
adrift between earth and heaven.
[S.H.]