1156. The Birds Have Vanished - Li Po

 Translated from the Chinese by Sam Hamill

The birds have vanished

and now the last cloud drains away

We sit together, the mountain and me

until only the mountain remains.

1155. A Sleepless Night - Philip Levine

April, and the last of the plum blossoms

scatters on the black grass

before dawn. The sycamore, the lime,

the struck pine inhale

and first pale hints of sky. The iron day,

I think, yet it will come

dazzling, the light

rise from the belly of leaves and pour

burning from the cups

of poppies. The mockingbird squawks

from his perch, fidgets,

and settles back. The snail, awake

for good trembles from his shell

and sets sail for China. My hand dances

in the memory of a million vanished stars.

A man has every place to lay his head

1154. The Way To The Temple - Wang Wei (701-761)

Translated by Sam Hamill

Searching for Gathered Fragrance Temple:

miles of mountains rise into clouds,

ancient trees darken the narrow trail.

Where is that mountain temple bell?

Snow melt crashes down on boulders,

the sun grows cold in the pines before

it drowns in the lake. Keep your karma

in good working order: many dragons lie in wait.

1153. In The Very Earliest Time - Eskimo

In the very earliest time,

when both people and animals lived on earth.

a person could become an animal if he wanted to

and an animal could become a human being.

Sometimes they were people

and sometimes animals

and there was no difference.

All spoke the same language.

That was the time when words were like magic.

The human mind had mysterious powers.

A word spoken by chance

might have strange consequences.

It would suddenly come alive

and what people wanted to happen could happen—

all you had to do was say it.

Nobody can explain this:

That’s the way it was