A Solution Through Poetry

A clean sheet of paper

Every day made whole

Not for the love of fame

But only so old words may be

Continuously transformed

There’s no harm thus done

In pleasing one’s nature

Keeping watch over the countryside

Or unconsciously remounting

The city’s walls

Merely to undertake

These imagined journeys

Upon rivers and lakes   

Chanting in rhythm on
Our passage through life

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

诗解

白居易

新篇日日成      不是爱声名

旧句时时改     无妨悦性情
但令长守郡     不觉却归城

只拟江湖上     吟哦过一生

How often do we question why it is we write our poems?  Here is an answer from the great Tang poet Bai Juyi, all the more remarkable in its clarity because it was written more than 1300 years ago. This poem is a beautiful testament to the Dao of Poetry - providing a solution to our constant questioning that enables us to feel restored in the power of our songs.   

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