Saturday, November 26, 2005

first twenty poems


1
lovesick


her hair
mauve cloud
coiled bun
jade pinned

gossamer
pale
frowning brows
she wears

autumn wind on
drizzle out doors

plantain trees tall
too long night
out there



2
lovesickeness


faroff mountains
layered away

mist on the lake’s
chill surface

leaves on the maple
crimson the heart

chrysanthemums bloom
and are gone

ganders stay
until their wings take them

past curtains
merest breeze, just the moon




3
spring in the jade pavilion


evening makes up
snow white faces
a file of young beauties
in the Spring palace
reed pipes, bamboo flutes
float on the air

who sprinkles the fragrance
into this breeze? Drunkenly
knocking at rails I’m steeped
in sentiments no light admits

therefore the candles stay unlit
clip clop of the moonlight
brings me home






4
song of the water clock at night


gold pin
rosy cheeks
a rendezvous
just heaven knew

fragrant wick
and weeping candle
a picture of our moods

tears moisten the embroidered pillow
blanket cold as night is deep
the water clock falls still






5
dream of Spring


over the strings the fingers
over the reed pipe breath
through the frosty bamboo
these purer than words

glance sidelong of the lovers parting

the house inside the rain
the banquet in the house
in Spring a dream
and yearning lingers

music brings me
winter’s dream –
Spring






6
tryst


gorgeous flowers
dim moonlight
thin mist

a stockinged tiptoe
to their tryst

he, in the south end
of the Painting Hall

she, into his arms
come trembling

how troublesome to meet
in shadows
how tender the moment
of hearts lit within





7
first of Spring


first of Spring
for pleasure

what floats in a cup of wine?
petals
unfolding
the flower

let us not whisper
of withering

it’s Spring – let’s drink to it
you beat the drum

I’ll bring the brush and ink





8
a fisherman


1
waves roll into snow
mute peaches make Spring

a pot of wine
a fishing pole

a mist
my vanishing



2
one oar
one boat

one line
one hook

flowers all over the isle

wine
a full vessel

then
let me be
following
breeze

let me be
mist
and
vanishing





9
insects fond of flowers


I rambled by the riverside
mourning last of Spring

dark winds drowned the drizzle
and the lamps of Qing Ming

a night wrecked?
I won’t say so
the fat lady may sing

peaches and plums
whisper with laughter

moon in its cloud
comes to bed after





10
Spring met in mist


shy to meet Spring
now that youth’s passed
I was as shy before

bygones have gone by
grass grown over flowers
mist lies deep over all





11
beating clothes


sleepless in unending night
the empty hall falls to echoes

through a bamboo curtain
hear winter’s chill

not a frog sounds
but the mind won’t be still

another, sleepless
rises early
wakes the house

does to his clothes
what she dare not
do to the man






12
waking from a night alone


hair messy
make-up faded
brows frown like the far-away peaks

against the balustrade
delicate fingers
and touching the cheeks

how far tears fall






13
waking for a piss in the early hours


the palace sleeps

I put on a gown
for the moonlight

stood among the chill bamboo
here’s me – miniature landscape

waterfall of my own making
eyes high in the forest of leaves

seek a star






14
love lost and passion enduring


I cannot see the girl with the flute
but I know how it is to lie in her arms

flowers bow and lift their heads
in fits the scent of her skin comes to me

twilight in the jewelled glass
willows cast shadows night won’t dispel

it is a cruel breeze brings her to me
our moment in mind’s bubble yet






15
hung over


cherry blossoms strew the yard
an ivory bed cast in moonlight

hair loosed lustreless
bitterest yearning

tears fall on scant garments of love
so many papers to sign







16
after one of those endless imperial parties


the guests went home
the painted hall still hung
with its breezes
all the long night

Spring still
one girl waits in the attic
dozing when she’s not required

mirror and make-up both at the ready
still tipsy when the first birds wake her
when comes the whistling
of workmen outside






17
footsteps of Spring


the footsteps of Spring
are falling away
the long night of blossoms
endures through your sleep

I stayed awake
to outstare this spray
of cherries, to wait
for the light,
for your waking
for withering day






18
first intimation of winter

autumn too wearies
steps come crimson strewn
herbs from the high hills
fill up the temple
the Double Ninth arrives

and in the yard’s doorway
where kitchen smoke
contends with drizzle
chrysanthemum

wild geese fly by
only their lament
deathless, unchanging






19
ennui of Spring


jade pendants dishevelled
make-up marred, messy bun
I hold the stairs up leaning
just me and the scenery
two shadows lament

an easterly wind over the river runs
sun devouring the crests left of hills
Spring’s ennui – all fallen flowers
I wander in among reeds sounding
I can’t go on drinking like this






20
mourning for the season passed


every petal’s fallen
Spring’s once firm footing’s lost

those butterflies made pretty pairs
a cliché now and spent

the birds who sang
as smoke dispersed

faraway
from hazy grasslands
the traveller into sun and drought
casts a fond eye back