Under the trees, among the rocks, a thatched hut:
verses and sacred commentaries live there together.
I'll burn the books I carry in my bag,
but how can I forget the verses written in my gut?
Translation by Kazuaki Tanahashi and David Schneider in Essential Zen (1994) HarperSanFrancisco.
Thirty-year-old man buys same-aged tortoise;
Middle-aged tortoise: owner has rigor mortis.
In retrospect, it was a stupid plan;
Clearly, the tortoise should have bought the man.
You may think the wolf is all howl --
Interspersed with gravelly growls,
But unlike the dog's nightly riots,
Wolves are remarkably quiet.
Just listen now to the Ring-Tailed Lemur:
It purrs, howls, and squeaks - but ain't no screamer.
And they're not the kind to rely on might,
But wave smelly tails to have a Stink Fight.
the sleeping bear
seems at peace, and still does
when its eyes open,
but my mental state - and
my drawers - are quite changed.
West Lake is beautiful from a small boat.
Green water wends its way through the lotus,
Sweet grass grows thickly all along the bank,
Faint music wafts from unknown points ashore.
When the wind quits, the Lake is glassy smooth;
The boat is perfectly still for a beat,
Then its movement is betrayed by ripples
And startled waterfowls' furious flapping.
Note: The title “Gathering Mulberry Leaves” was used by Xu Yuanchong for his translation. The Chinese title is: 採桑子 (Cǎi Sāngzǐ)
The Meerkat stands, right and proper,
Like a skeptical eavesdropper.
Its spine aligned and eyes all wide
As if to say, "I know you lied!"
The world below the brine,
Forests at the bottom of the sea,
the branches and leaves,
Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers
and seeds, the thick tangle, openings,
and pink turf,
Different colors, pale gray and green,
purple, white, and gold, the play of light
through the water,
Dumb swimmers there among the rocks,
coral, gluten, grass, rushes, and the
aliment of the swimmers,
Sluggish existences grazing there suspended,
or slowly crawling close to the bottom,
The sperm-whale at the surface blowing air
and spray, or disporting with his flukes,
The leaden-eyed shark, the walrus, the
turtle, the hairy sea-leopard, and the
sting-ray,
Passions there, wars, pursuits, tribes,
sight in those ocean-depths, breathing
that thick-breathing air, as many do,
The change thence to the sight here,
and to the subtle air breathed by beings
like us who walk this sphere,
The change onward from ours to that of
beings who walk other spheres.
tight bud opens:
imperceptible struggle
to unpack beauty.
Oh my! I am so very awed
by this mighty l’il gastropod.
Its moves make taiji masters seem rushed,
but it lugs a house without being crushed.
