Deer Fence

Empty mountain.
No one is seen.
But, echoing,
someone is heard.
Afternoon sun
enters again
the deep forest,
shining once more
on the green moss.
--Wang Wei, my tr.

Autumn Song of Lady Night

Opening the window
to the autumn moon,
she puts out the candle,
slipping off her silk skirt.

And suppressing a smile
within the curtained bed,
she arches her body,
spreading orchid fragrance.
--Anon., my tr.

Another by Du Fu

Birds are whiter on the blue river.

Flowers flame up on the green mountain.

Spring, I see, has come and gone again.

What day--what year--will I return home?

--my tr.

In Answer to a Poem by Subprefect Zhang

In my old age, I want only peace.
The ten thousand things are not my concern.
I've no plan for the rest of my life
but to come back to this, my ancient woods.
Piney wind blows my girdle open.
Mountain moon lights upon the lute I play.
So where's the warp and weft of the world?
Fishermen's songs come far up the inlet.
--Wang Wei, my tr.

Playing the Zheng for General Zhou

While playing the zheng
with millet-gold posts,
her fair hands moving
over the jade frame,
hoping that Zhou Yu
will turn and look,
every so often
she plucks the wrong note.
--Li Duan, my tr.

Did you know that the U.S. conducts a yearly immigration lottery for people who want to come here but have no particular qualifying criteria for admission? Several million people apply for about 20,000 slots. Because of some error in the lottery process, in 2010 the government invalidated the results after the 20,000 winners had been notified. In trying to rationalize immigration policies, we must remember that those policies apply not just to those crossing the southern border from Mexico without having gone through the prescribed application procedure.

A Compromise with the Dead

Who wanted to rest
in her most-mended panties
was laid down instead
in her muddy garden shoes.