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Poetry... The Body of Man
- The body of man is like a flicker of lightning existing
only to return to Nothingness. Like the spring growth
that shrivels in autumn. Waste no thought on the process
for it has no purpose, coming and going like dew. (Van
Hanh d. 1018)
My Advice While in Health - Like a wall, the body
constantly threatens collapse. A pity, really, the world
still buzzes on. Trust that Mind equals No-Mind, has no
substance: Let it come and go, appear and vanish. What do
we have to lose? (Buddhist priest, Vien Chieu (998-1090)
Birth, Age, Sickness, Death - Birth, age,
sickness, death: These are Life's constants. Don't try
escape, the tangle will only further ensnare you. Pray to
Buddha, in your confusion turn to Zen. No, not another
wordfor it will only be wasted. (Dieu Nhan (1042-1114), a
nun and the first recorded woman poet of Vietnam)
Rebirth - Spring goes, and the hundred flowers.
Spring comes, and the hundred flowers. My eyes watch
things passing, my head fills with years. But when spring
has gone not all the flowers follow. Last night a plum
branch bloomed by my door. (Man Giac 1051-1096)
A Nap - Huge sky, great green mountains, Small
village of mulberries and smoke. No one comes, The
ferryman sleeps -- And wakes, at noon, In a boatload of
snow. (Khong Lo d. 1119)
Pity for Prisoners - They write letters with their
blood, to send news home. A lone wild goose flaps through
the clouds. How many families are weeping under this same
moon? The same thought wandering how far apart? (Huyen
Quang)
Death - The wild-raging storm sweeps the whole
earth now, running adrift the drunken fisherman's boat.
From all four quarters, clouds thicken and blacken, waves
surge like the report of beaten drums, everything washed
out by slashing rain, gust-driven, beneath the shuddering
menace of this thunder. Afterward, the dust settles, the
sky grows calm, and the moonlit river lengthens out. What
time of night is this? (Tran Nhan-ton)
Translated with W. S. Merwin, Burton Raffel and KP
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