Late Autumn in the Desert

Late Autumn in the Desert

 

Magpies made a fuss when leaves were falling.

You didn't foresee this, fortune tellers?

Still your cawing made the desert field quieter,

while the tall mountain looked on silently.

 

At season's turning, my soul lives inside the tree of life that had

its lush moments and its dull moments.

Together we strode across that lifeless bridge.

 

Nearby a bell is ringing "dong, dong, dong…"

as if complaining "frozen, frozen, frozen…" in Chinese.

In the far away sky, geese are forming

the letter 'humanity' in Chinese.

 

I look for the swallows living under my eaves,

but they are all gone. Maybe they have found

another house to build nests and live with

people who don't speak a foreign language.

 

【五律】大漠秋晚

 

鵲噪葉飄飄，山高野寂寥。

魂棲生命樹，人度寞石橋。

訴凍鍾聲近，懷人雁影遙。

試尋簷下燕，已往趙家巢。

 

(© November 20, 2023, godog)