old stone bridge:
weeds grow in its cracks,
its river ran dry.
Stone Bridge [Haiku]
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unfurled buds,
not drooped to gravity,
tell Spring’s story.

trunk splits to branches
that stretch to the edge
of oxygen’s crossing.

understory thrives:
light plants & shadow plants
each finds its place.
I cut myself upon the thought of you
And yet I come back to it again and again,
A kind of fury makes me want to draw you out
From the dimness of the present
And set you sharply above me in a wheel of roses.
Then, going obviously to inhale their fragrance,
I touch the blade of you and cling upon it,
And only when the blood runs out across my fingers
Am I at all satisfied.
Verdant orchid leaves of Spring;
Cassia blooms bright in Autumn;
Thriving plants, top to bottom.
Festivals planned by their timings.
Who knows the forest recluse --
Pleased with winds and winds with he.
Plants have stems, branches, and roots
Why beg a belle to pluck their fruits.
This is poem #2 of the 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首,] and is the second in a quartet of poems called 感遇 [Gan Yu.] The original poem in Simplified Chinese goes:
兰叶春葳蕤, 桂华秋皎洁;
欣欣此生意, 自尔为佳节。
谁知林栖者, 闻风坐相悦。
草木有本心, 何求美人折?