Spanish Moss drapes
from the bare branches over
the cool blue river.
Spanish Moss [Haiku]
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Tag Archives: river
“Reply to Caishu’s ‘Ancient Temple by a River'” by Mei Yaochen [w/ Audio]
Old trees with tangled hanging tassels
by a deserted temple open to the river.
Rain, rain threw down the clay statues
and wind blew down this ancient building.
Wild birds nest in dusty shrines,
fishermen hold a bamboo lottery cup.
About to play the tune "Mountain Ghost," I stop:
the Verses of Chu make me too sad.
Translation: Barnstone, Tony and Ping, Chou. 2005. The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry: From Ancient to Contemporary. New York: Anchor Books.
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The Other Shore [Free Verse]
Standing on the bank,
Looking at the other shore --
A hundred meters or a mile?
Does it matter,
In such a fast flow?
If I were to swim for it,
Launching myself into
Those cold, choppy waves,
Which would I reach first:
The other shore, or
The Falls, downstream?
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Cold River Sky [Haiku]
clouds - low & textured -
look yet angrier when seen
in the cold river.
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One River [Free Verse]
From the water's edge,
I see the spastic, choppy
topography of a river
that looked glassy
from the bridge that
spans it.
Is this one river?
Am I one traveler?
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DAILY PHOTO: Views of the Danube
Yielding to the Flow [Free Verse]
A slender leaf
floats downstream.
Its tip touches
a stouter leaf,
sending the
slender leaf
spinning.
The leaf continues to
twist as it drifts,
Making it seem spastic,
but it neither rushes
nor dawdles.
It matches the flow,
letting gravity &
currents do all the work.
It races only when it
plunges through
a narrow channel,
But it downshifts just as
effortlessly as the
stream widens.
The leaf's action is
unforced, yielding to
energy imparted upon it.
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Lonely Egret [Haiku]
“West River Moon” by Su Shi [w/ Audio]
Wavelet on wavelet glimmers by the shore;
Cloud on cloud dimly appears in the sky.
Unsaddled is my white-jadelike horse;
Drunk, asleep in the sweet grass I'll lie.
My horse's hoofs may break, I'm afraid,
The breeze-rippled brook paved by moonlit jade.
I tether my horse to a bough of green willow.
Near the bridge where I pillow
My head on arms and sleep till the cuckoo's song awakes
A spring daybreak.
Translation: Xu Yuanchong [translator]. 2021. Deep, Deep the Courtyard. [庭院深深.] Cite Publishing: Kuala Lumpur, p. 238
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River Differences (Or, Follow Your Lazy) [Senryū]
nature makes no
straight rivers; men make none
that meander.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 