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The Journey to the West

Though we journey to the West We pray to the East More or less that's the way Each day begins and ends It’s a tale everyone ...

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

An Email to Stephanie

This is a short poem I wrote to my friend Stephanie to congratulate her on launching her great new blog, which you can find by clicking on the link right below called wildnatureofny.com.


The more you put truth
Out into the world
The more room there
Will be for mistake
And misconstruction
Of your intent

But there's comfort
In that too since
Being misunderstood
Is likely the best sign
That you're already
On the road to be just as
You wanted to be

That's a good koan
For today don't
You think

Monday, March 4, 2013

From Cold Mountain to the Streets of Manhattan

I've just published a new issue of my Tang Spirit newsletter that includes new translations of poems by Han Shan.  Part of my current interest in Han Shan stems from the similarities I sense between his life in seclusion on a remote mountaintop and the life of my friend, Richard Musto, who lives on the streets of Manhattan.   Here's one of the poems I translated:


It’s funny how
Cold Mountain path
Proceeds along
Without a trace of
Horses and carts

As streams
Come together
It’s hard to remember
All their twists and turns
And the layers of peaks
That loom in the distance
Unknowable

The dew weeps
Upon a thousand
Blades of grass
And the wind
Moans in sync
With the pines


Here the path leads
To a bewildering place
Where each form asks
Of its shadow
From whence
It has come

可笑寒山道
而无车马

谿难记
叠嶂不知重

泣露千般草


You can find the full newsletter on the Tang Spirit website by clicking here.