Friday, June 30, 2023

 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

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