Health, food, air, water, love, and thought… that about covers it.
Sure, why not?
Health, food, air, water, love, and thought… that about covers it.
Sure, why not?



The lake is glassy in August.
The air and sky are oh-so clear.
Vapor steams off of Yunmeng ponds,
Ripples lap at Yueyang's piers.
There're no boats to cross the water.
Shame! I couldn't emulate sages.
I sit and watch a fisherman
And envy his catch and his wages.
This is poem #124 in 300 Tang Poems [唐诗三百首.] Original Poem in Simplified Chinese:
八月湖水平, 涵虚混太清。
气蒸云梦泽, 波撼岳阳城。
欲济无舟楫, 端居耻圣明。
坐观垂钓者, 空有羡鱼情。
Lying back on the water,
Peering into a cloud,
I shift like driftwood --
rocking and rising,
rolling and dipping.
As I stare at the cloud,
It seems to stare back.
It drifts - suspiciously -
Or maybe I'm drifting
And it is still --
In truth, we're both drifting,
And neither of us has
The mental energy to be
Suspicious.