From Mountain Living
by Han-Shan Te-Ching (Silly Mountain, 1546-1623)
Translated by James M. Cryer1.
through a few splinters of
white cloud motionless
the Buddha wheel bright moon
comes flying
to accompany me
in my mountain stillness
and I smile up at it
above the dirty suffering world2.
it only took a single flake
to freeze my mind in the snowy night
a few clangs to smash my dreams
among the frosted bells
and the stove's night fire fragrance
too is melted away
yet at my window the moon
climbs a solitary peak3.
cloud scatter the length of the sky
rain passes over
the snow melts in the chill valley
as Spring is born
and though I feel my body's like
the rushing water
I know my mind's not
as clear as the ice