362
Yuan Lu Mountain series

wither the zither
just the wind knows
whether it’s telling
or bringing to blows


1
fiercest birds the best fed

how hungry the mountain

robbers are bloated

those seeking fame
may reach high office

toiling in fields
brings more toil

uncut jade is all the same
it’s men who make the difference

the mountain
not wishing to be cut
lacks rice


2
humans have it all worked out
for each there’s a right kind of righteousness

they rush around stirring up dust
strange pride leads to still stranger insults

whose reputation’s not impugned?
who goes unslighted?

moralism melts like mist
before me I see the winding track

the lonely mountain and I
make our ways


3
superior men
don’t look for trouble
trouble’s always
on the lookout
for them

it’s hard enough
to walk on the mountain
without a disputing mind

look up to the eloquent sky
look down – see the elegant earth
– heaven’s work

within?
like all else
of five elements
humans

the dao of the mountain
just where it is

there’s the eloquence of the empty gut
which tells
how
the changes of nature
need mending
with virtue


4
sages have a reputation
for vanishing

their dao is different
their reasoning right off our radar

no need to mention minor merits
when the stomach’s full

hunger you see
to the mountain is nothing

sages are of
vanishing reputation


5
step by step
is how you get high

try skipping
and you’ll only stumble

the sage’s clean entrails
clear sky on a cold day

sincerity
can be faked too

the smart man
outwits himself

chasing the mountain
till there’s no trace left

6
jackals and wolves
ought to be ashamed

imagine them becoming vegetarians
helping to till the mountain

no one locks doors at night anymore
all day there’s singing

simply looking around
nature teaches us all

the advice is minute
and unerring

the merit of the mountain
much like ancient music

memory lacking
will never diminish it

7
peaceful music
leads to deep understanding

how can the mountain
measure up to its height?


8
virtuous courtiers
bring back ancient learning

one day
the recluses all come out to play

a white haired man
dwells in the green mountain
looks up to the red door

everything set right – names and ways
all honoured as merit demands

the lofty exalted
those of low morals brought low at last

at variance
only the mountain humble, unanmed


9
the mountain drives the cart

hazardous are the ways men carve

the forest an ocean spread far below

the wedding too late
the words still sincere


10
bitter gut
sweet breast
abandoned baby

a sage is the mother of all things told

363
immortality pills

three or four characters
suddenly in stone
ten thousand years they’ll last

a good thing
because the dead
have a hard time
getting things finished

the moon hangs slant
mourning for the house now empty

how long is a life?
night is longer

words to say
are stone






364
mourning for the prison warder

water’s pure in the presence of the superior man
muddy when he’s gone

what use is friendship to a corpse
there’s no sunlight in hell

still there’s an old pine grows in the house
the door is shut
strings of the zither won’t sound anymore

in the past the view was clear as Spring
now – just look at this wasteland

useless to ask a question of death
only sages know what lies past silence








365
those bones which ornament the earth

bright moon at the peak of the mountain
makes bright all of earth
still won’t shine below

in the deep spring
two dragons fail
to keep their appointment

gold silkworm, jade swallow
lie with the dead
hang brittle and loose

where flesh is fled
clouds of morning now neglected
in the mild breeze bamboo heads lie low







366
maudlin thoughts in house neglected

I came here to bury you
to praise what was left

drink to memory
with other friends as bereft

now in this dim house alone
no more laughter heard

only an old book of poems much leafed
and the broken tune of a wearied bird

should I plant trees I’ll never see to my height?
I should harness these bones to a plough

make crops from barren soil despite
weakness, drought … but I need to eat now

I linger here, where else to go?
this final parting just my tears show







367
parting with the dead is one-sided

parting with the dead is one-sided
a year in the ground their output is slow

I get down from my horse
too choked up to speak

with whom would
I have words anyhow

I can only laugh putting
these lines down later

when I read them again
then again the tears flow