"Plaint"

Spring flowers, Autumn moons,

Water lilies still carry

Away my heart like a lost

Boat. As long as I am flesh

And bone I will never find

Rest. There will never come a

Time when I will be able

To resist my emotions.


The Poetess Chu Shu Chen (c. 1200)

__________________________

from One Hundred Poems from the Chinese
Kenneth Rexroth, New Directions Paperbook, 1971, NY, NY