| The Chinese Travelogue | (1986)
If you could dull its perspicuity, free it from chaos, limit its gleam,
liken it to a grain of dust, then it would seem to exist clearly.
| | Lao-Tse |  |
2
The pond speaks:
if I had hands and voice,
how I would love and cherish you.
The people, you know, are greedy and always sick
and tear other’s clothes
for bandages for themselves.
I need nothing:
tenderness means getting healthy again.
Like a tame wild animal
I would put my hands on your lap
and descend from above
as the sky, voice-like.
Richard McKane
***
2
The pond says:
had I hands and a voice
I would love and cherish you.
People, you see, are greedy and frequently sick
and they tear other’s clothes
to make bandages.
While I need nothing:
after all, tenderness is healing.
I’d place my hands on your knees
as if I were a toy dog,
and through my voice I’d descend
from above like the heavens.
Andrew Wachtel | |
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