Beauty lies within
In my current state
Of mental health
Such as it is
(stuck looking without)
All the t-shirts
I notice on my way
Across 28th street
Walking to Kalustyan's
Speak directly to me
Suggesting another chapter
In the Chuang Tzu perhaps
About randomness and truth
And the richness of the present
* * * * * * *
By way of explaining a few of the references in this poem, I am very pleased to announce (albeit by such indirect means) that I have recently begun work on a new translation project - helping a Chinese friend and colleague prepare for publication a new translation of the Chuang Tzu, a Daoist wisdom book comparable in importance and beauty to the Dao De Jing. (For those of you not familiar with it, you can read about the great original Chinese text here.) The chapter I am currently working on is Chapter 26, which is entitled External Things (or 外物 if you prefer in Chinese).
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