1149. Cucumber - Paul Reps

 

1148. On A Portrait Of Two Beauties - Ho Xuan Huong (1592- 1788)

Translated from the Vietnamese by John Balaban

On A Portrait Of Two Beauties

How old are these two anyway?

Big and little sister, equally lovely.

In 100 years, smooth as two sheets of paper.

In 1,000 years, they still will glow like springtime.

Will the plum tree ever know the wind and moon?

Will reed and willow accept their dull fates?

Why not portray the other pleasures? Blame

the artist, gifted, but a bit dim about love.

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Country Scene

The waterfall plunges in mist.

Who can describe this desolate scene:

the long white river sliding through

the emerald shadows of the ancient canopy

…a shepherd’s horn echoing in the valley,

fishnets stretched to dry on sandy flats.

A bell is tolling, fading, fading

just like love. Only poetry lasts.

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Spring-Watching Pavilion

A gentle spring evening arrives

airily, unclouded by worldly dust.

Three times the bell tolls echoes like a wave.

We see heaven upside-down in sad puddles.

Love’s vast sea cannot be emptied.

and springs of grace flow easily everywhere.

Where is nirvana?

Nirvana us here, nine times out of ten.