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Yün-k’an Tzu (late Yüan)

out of chaos,

Chang Kuo-lao1 popped

riding his white ass backwards

through illusion

born in purple clouds

coiled in ruby mist

every night he folded that old ass up

swallowed it

to sleep in bliss.

Translated by Jerome P. Seaton

 

The poet’s name is obviously a pseudonym, but nothing else is known about him.

1. One of the eight immortals of Taoism. This is part of a series of poems by the same poet about these legendary individuals.