710: As Far As Cho-Fu-Sa
"As Far As Cho-Fu-Sa"
Mookie Katigbak
"If you are coming down the narrows of the river Kiang,
let me know beforehand and I will come out to meet you
As far as Cho-Fu-Sa."
- The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter, Li Po
translated by Ezra Pound
What I am, ever, is this: composure of stone.
Spare weather visiting the garden, small as the hours
I keep watch by. Beyond this wall
Must be better weathers. This claw of stars
Must constellate somewhere into a bear,
Else names would lie.
Since winter's thaws, no script from you
Save this: "I travel the river and follow
The white gulls-"
Husband. See me walking the dusty pass
Where loom our prior lives?
Here the years pass that I enshrine
Within these walls, sparing nothing
From the ardors of my stare. Blue plums,
Paired butterflies repeat you
In a walled world. I tell myself
To clear the moss, mend the gate
So long unswayed and caked with dirt,
But nothing moves. Somewhere
You are actual. Happen to me there.
The poem upon which this poem is based/from which this poem drew its inspiration has been posted. You can find it if you click "Li Po" on the tags. (Those would be at the bottom of this entry and on the left side of the main page.) There are three versions of Li Po's poem posted, including the one translated by Ezra Pound.
Mookie Katigbak
"If you are coming down the narrows of the river Kiang,
let me know beforehand and I will come out to meet you
As far as Cho-Fu-Sa."
- The River-Merchant's Wife: A Letter, Li Po
translated by Ezra Pound
What I am, ever, is this: composure of stone.
Spare weather visiting the garden, small as the hours
I keep watch by. Beyond this wall
Must be better weathers. This claw of stars
Must constellate somewhere into a bear,
Else names would lie.
Since winter's thaws, no script from you
Save this: "I travel the river and follow
The white gulls-"
Husband. See me walking the dusty pass
Where loom our prior lives?
Here the years pass that I enshrine
Within these walls, sparing nothing
From the ardors of my stare. Blue plums,
Paired butterflies repeat you
In a walled world. I tell myself
To clear the moss, mend the gate
So long unswayed and caked with dirt,
But nothing moves. Somewhere
You are actual. Happen to me there.
The poem upon which this poem is based/from which this poem drew its inspiration has been posted. You can find it if you click "Li Po" on the tags. (Those would be at the bottom of this entry and on the left side of the main page.) There are three versions of Li Po's poem posted, including the one translated by Ezra Pound.