Photo by Brian Vogelgesand
new moon --
my wishing lamp
on the holy river
Archana Kapoor Nagpal
Artwork by Ba Jin
anchored boat –
the weight of the moon
in her belly
Jayashree Maniyil
The Ba Jin art, pictured above is after the famed Li Po poem, Drinking Alone by Midnight. Never one to be able to resist Li Po, the poem follows:
Drinking Alone by Midnight
A cup of wine, under the flowering trees;
I drink alone, for no friend is near.
Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon,
For he, with my shadow, will make three men.
The moon, alas, is no drinker of wine;
Listless, my shadow creeps about at my side.
Yet with the moon as friend and the shadow as slave
I must make merry before the Spring is spent.
To the songs I sing the moon flickers her beams;
In the dance I weave my shadow tangles and breaks.
While we were sober, three shared the fun;
Now we are drunk, each goes his way.
May we long share our odd, inanimate feast,
And meet at last on the Cloudy River of the sky.
Li Po
trans. by Arthur Waley
Art by Francesco Clemente
(from 'Cathay: Poems after Li Po' by Ezra Pound)
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ripples on water--
mingling with the larks
a fishing boat
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue
best,
Don
PS Click to learn how to contribute to Wednesday Haiku.
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