To a Taoist Hermit

Today   at work in the office
I felt a sudden chill in my heart
you who live alone on the mountain
gathering wood beside a plunging stream
will be boiling white stones for food

I want to bring you a gourd of wine
to cheer you in this time of wind and rain
but the empty mountains are vast
falling leaves fill the paths
how could I find your footsteps

Wei Ying Wu
T'ang Dynasty

translated by David Sen, Dick Russell
revised March 2017, 2023 Dick Russell
Published in Chapman Chinese Issue, Scotland, 1972