40
the river all red
2

left stranded in Xinfeng
shabby clothes, eyes of dust
I lean on a sword
till the clouds take its shine

no one writes good laments anymore
and another thing
some heroes ought to be appointed
to help the emperor
in the country’s defence
there might be prosperity then
as it is they only read old classics
and that’s where they are read

why be sad
when we can drink?
life’s short – let’s
treasure the moment

woman’s company’s best
chrysanthemum hairpins
who needs to serve, to be a hero?

this sword would bring me
a good cow, a field
yes there’d be loneliness
and poems written

41
fragrant garden

a woman of exceptional beauty
with no references for the palace
still she makes others jealous

it’s always a pretty girl who gets hurt
a moon so bright the stars seem dim

she folds her arms – lofty mountains
rivers run, frogs in dried ponds contend

this empire needs a better script
a better by-line than Son of Heaven

a fire dragon could make ancestors glorious
just as silkworms wind and spin

and so a garment’s spun
think of the wind and the moon by the lake

will the works of heroes endure?
look to graves in wasted grass

I’ll stick with my chances
of staying in print





42
prelude to water melody

sun shines on the door of the palace
the tigers and leopards have all opened up
it’s the dragon who won’t be changing his mind

virtue and patriotism – they’ll never sway him
though they may last past the grave

still, good news can spread
come and laugh at my thatched cottage
door covered in grass
path hewn from moss

I’ll put both of your hands to use
baked crab in one, wine glass in the other
we shall speak of swords, of poems
we’ll sing till we fall down

the sadness of white hair
the joy of survival
I’ve learnt to keep clear
of the court’s sunlit doors






43
another prelude to a water melody

I’ve always been fond of outer space
dreamt of taking myself to the sky

a word with the moon and a thousand years pass
here come my old friends riding on egrets

here comes Su Dongpo, here comes Li Bai
see how the two of them hold the Big Dipper?

see how these fellows put away wine!
a somnolent voice frees me for napping

great swan spreads its wings again and again
heaven and earth – which round, which square?

one puts a perplexed pillow by, one ponders
the imperfection of all things below

then a beautiful woman ruins that theory
perfection is where the heart knows it must go






44
Spring in Han Palace

Spring
and everywhere women’s pretty heads
draped in the flags of Spring

wind and the rain come for no reason
still the cold weather stays

two sparrows tonight
dream of the garden
where the Han emperor hunted

wine from the mandarins
fruit trays, willows make green
and the plum blossoms carry

the east breeze into the glass
of the mirror… there’s no time
to spare… there’s a sad face
and flowers fall after they blossom

wild geese of the Han wing home






45
eight beats of the old song

that old general Lu drank wildly
after his wild ride
shame on the arrogant official
who asked him out of his saddle
to stop the night with his whole army
by this far pavilion

once General Li shot a tiger alone
his arrow so honed it could pierce a stone
but the emperor gave him no title
he retired to the countryside to toil

still, he expanded the empire just farming
and all of our hearts by his example grew
but his twilight’s come and
now night’s gloomy reign
covers the land with frost








46
charm of a singer

wild pear flowers
trip down the mountains

slim as the moon
she sings

Qing Ming comes quickly
and it goes

chill Spring wind wakes me
from my dream

makes me fear
dreaming mists

by the river’s bank
fine carriages see off the willows

grey hairs in the mirror
why look so surprised?

only the swallows can tell of the past
and who can fathom their speech?






47
charm of another singer

if I could have all the official garb
the hoo-ha and the broo-ha-ha
then I’d be like a hero of Han
with the moon conversing
I’d know what men are
but I wouldn’t know any men

as it is there’s frost on my brow
chrysanthemums falling
I’m medicine in the emperor’s cage
this dynasty no less real than the rest
white clouds and the moon
and waning stars pass
just as birds, just as men
from this stage







48
slow tune of lily magnolia flowers

this Han emperor built a capital
no one can remember it now

his first act was to attack the west
we bade him farewell at a banquet

he went too far too fast

sad flags in the air
missed all the way back

the emperor came home in a box

wild geese in their
autumn shadows flew






49
water dragon chant

blue sky in the autumn
water flows clear
the distant hills are sadness

like jade clasps
in a girl’s coiled hair
the sunshine
in the chill pavilion

the west wind grows
as pale as dusk

lost swans in their sorrow
cry each to each
the eagle finds no nesting

years pass
and the wanderer beneath them
remembers a pretty face
red cloth for his tears

could have been a householder once

away beyond the wind and the rain
where even the trees grow old