Tom Montag


Ten Poems After The Chinese Masters


AFTER LI YU'S
"AUTUMN SORROW"

Without a word
I go up to my room
alone. What

the moon is
is a hook.
The tree in

the garden
sings my sorrow.
Whatever I cut

doesn't break.
Whatever I straighten
stays tangled.

Autumn makes
such a mess
of my heart.



AFTER LI YU'S
"SLEEPLESS NIGHT"

The yard is
empty front
and back, but

I can hear
someone
doing laundry.

I can hear
the wind.
I can't sleep

so I count
such sounds
all night and

watch the moon
come through
the curtains.



AFTER TU MU'S
"DRUNKEN SLEEP"

Well-made wine
and autumn rain.

A cold house
among the leaves.

The lonely man
will sleep a lot,

but first he pours
another cup.



AFTER YAN SHU'S
"LAST YEAR"

On this old porch
the same cup of wine.

The same melody
with new words.

The same weather
we had last year.

The same sun setting.
It also rises.

When will I see you?
The flowers keep fading.

The same swallows
keep returning.

On the same path
through my garden

I linger with
the same loneliness.



AFTER LI YU'S
"SOUND OF AUTUMN"

Last night
wind and rain.
The sound

of autumn
in the curtains.
The candles

sputtering.
The clock
tick-tick-ticking.

I hugged my
sleepless pillow.
I got up, sat

down, restless.
Worries are
like a river.

Life is a dream
about falling.
Drunkenness

is a heaven
where the road
stays steady.

I should
visit there
more often.

In this world
I can barely
walk at all.



AFTER LI YU'S
"SNEAKING OUT"

Bright flowers,
a dull moon,

some mist.
Tonight is

a good time
for her to go

to her lover.
They find each

other. She
is trembling.

She tells how
hard it was

to get here.
They embrace.

Please, she says,
O please do

as you please.



AFTER YAN SHU'S
"NOW IS THE TIME"

I think: a moment
is like a year, a year like

a moment. Being apart
from her isn't easy.

I think: you have to
drink and sing when you can.

Waiting for someone who is
far away makes you sad.

Flowers knocked about by
wind and rain makes you

sadder. I think:
Life is short. Why not

love the one you're with?



AFTER FENG YAN SI'S
"FEELINGS OF MELANCHOLY"

Who says my sadness
has gone off? Spring returns
and my darkness comes

with it. You will find me
drinking every day among
the flowers. Who cares that

the face in the mirror
grows haggard? The grass
is spring-green along

the river. The willows sway.
Who can say why sorrow
never ends, why it comes

again? I stand on the bridge
alone, the wind in my clothes.
Above the woods, a new moon.



AFTER MENG HAO-JAN'S
"SEEING OFF DU SHISI
SOUTH OF THE RIVER"

You travel by boat
when the water is high.

At sunset you wonder
where you will moor

under a sky so wide
it breaks your heart.



AFTER MEI YAOCHEN'S
"A RURAL HOME"

Roosters crow.
The sky is

brightening.
Farmers take

their morning
rice and tea

and go out
to plowing.

I open
my window

and have to
watch the last

of the stars
disappearing.

Tom Montag says he doesn't read Chinese, but has read as many translations of these poems as he could find. He saw that the poems were still struggling to get out. These are his attempt to free some of the old masters in contemporary English.

 
 

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