337
in praise of the poet, Zhang Bi

where is the Book of Songs now?
the well of the empire’s run dry

the rise and fall of cities, kings
is as of the ink soaked brush

still scholars have their dignity
zither on an autumn day

the moon in autumn’s pool

338
seeking the monk I knew here once

in a mossy field
no carriage, horse

sun and moon
lie out of doors

bamboo in its lonely song
flowers wilt unwatched

scarf for the frost
in the green pine woods

I enter
heart uphill





339
at the peak

start from the top
dig down through mists

clouds are the structure
crags cling to

from here you can shout
at the solemn counties

the steep stony road
is a circus of life

green air wreathes
the gnarled pine

famous for height
crowds of rich spirits

a poet
looks up to




340
a new born

from heaven come blessings
some families can’t help having sons
others?

no point in sighing for the phoenix
a carp reads poems just as well

this boy would ask a stone for milk
mother or not, he’s undiscerning

he looks up into kind eyes
call that a kind of understanding





341
reading the sutras

1
Buddhism’s for old folks
like reading for a woman

Lao Tzu’s Huang Ting Jing
a thousand shining stars

the Da Bo Re sutra
takes the heart higher

give up the flesh of fellow creatures
then everything embraces

back in Changan
peace

I took a stroll
on the sun, on the moon

when I’m old I’ll come back
the sutras will have made me strong



2
Confucius’ works are poorly indexed
this monk who left the copy I have
has filled it with bookmarks
they’re fragrant true
but where’s the way?

I think Confucius understood things better
when he was reading the I Ching

shame he spent so much of his time
on re-writing it
…or if Lao Tzu had got the job

now we’ll never know what it said


3
Yan Hui didn’t have
two cash to string together

but he was a good listener
sat at the tall man’s feet

Yan Hui learned
the most precious thing
about virtue
is its shape

just a rumour then
that
in the duckweed countries
there’s a weird religion

all about wishing
not to be wished for
about wishing your wishes away

everyone’s ear there fixed to the sky
as if the body were an embarrasment

everyone together forgetting
the clearest voice is from the heart
the clearest light the light of day





342
poem at the Zhong Nan Mountain

crisscrossed between
green haze of fields
paths of dried mud
where feet where rain
by turns have fallen

towering over all this scene
cloaks of the gods are all pockets
that’s why
ten thousand things are never too much

do you think that the mountain
is waiting for rain?
the river is given all days
to the field

the field stands its rice
for the sun

every home’s staircase
leans on the green mountain
every door locks
the pure fog away

think of those who have given their bones
just for flight
think of all the immortals
who make light this day





343
Spring rain

last night a sudden downpour
the sky had brave intentions

for us – and first to know
the bamboo stood

head higher
than we other trees

waited for a breeze to buy
precious jewels

which remained
stood all night

silent still, till morning’s
first birds woke the sun

a brave decision that






344
old story about Lan Ke Mountain

before the two children finish their game
everything on earth will have passed

they’ll be cloud borne
with their board and pieces

the woodcutter however finds his way home
hands full of air, he himself wind blown ash

only a stone bridge still stands
joins nothing to nothing

one day among immortals
ten thousand years down here

our best wise saw
heaven’s fresh fallen garbage

how sweet the smell
of the connoisseur






345
jade waterfall

a few steps more you’ll be out of the mud
the mountain’s smile takes the form of a cave

hard to make out where the sky breaks the rock,
heaven makes violet the screen

water falls in its myriad threads
– the moon’s curtain it’s been called

stones here pared as if by immortals
foam splashes high, mists floating thin

but these my words won’t do it justice
the vulgar tourist won’t make this trek

here we are now
this waterfall yours

let us worship
in silence awhile






346
seeking out the hermit scholar

I’m a little worried Mr Pei
may have passed on

so long since he’s been seen
of course that’s longevity’s

infallible sign. So I go
where he’s been

I paddle the river
I climb the stiff crags

no winter grass to hide the path
the mountain knows there’s someone

immortality pills, a draft of elixir
this is the factory floor

pin hopes on the moon
hope white hair turns black

it’s all very well this living forever
if one only knows what one’s doing it for