Endless Yearning

by Li Po

                        1

I endlessly yearn to be in Chang-An

a single cricket chirps by that gold-rimmed well

a Hippocrene
defying the season

a little frost   my bedding is cold

a single lamp lit in my room

one lantern hung high flickers

shadows mock me

making me more sad

moving to the window

I see Po-Chu-Yi's moon   and sigh

my desire

like a bloom beyond reach

yellow in deep dark reaches of sky

while below

blue waters run restlessly

through green fields
reflecting white clouds

anguish in my soul

my dreams grow weary

you are so far away

I think of the mountains

insurmountable mountains

that lie between us

impossible even to hope

endless this longing

breaking my heart

                        2

this evening

flowers shone like lanterns

through the dusk

sun set slowly

the moon so bright

it's like a piece of white silk

I wish I could take it

to dab away my tears

I can't sleep

I played some songs on a harp

simple songs about men and women

who are happy together

then I took up a lute

that has only two strings

each faithful to the other

these melodies have great feeling

if only you could hear them

who will bear them to you for me?

will the spring wind carry them there?

you are so far away

open skies have shut their doors on us

my eyes once sparkling

now deep wells of tears

if you doubt how my heart aches

return to me & see

just how I look

in this mirror

translated by David Sen and Dick Russell