Rob Schackne #29 - Aftermaths

Aftermaths

After Eurydice

No white tiger
to come back
the white tiger
painted white
to come back
white as paper
white as Sunday
and white as
snow that falls
on the blue tigers
to come back
near the blue
waterfalls
to come back
and behind them
the red flowers
to come back
keening for the sun
the sun is water
the sun is black
to come back
listen to me

After Guan Guan

No night gardener
under moonlight
the sleeping blossoms
shadows lengthened
there was a lake
a lake of mud
this was the ground
a ground of lotus
and now this room
once rooms of marsh
somewhere near here
there was a pond 
was it really a pond
that is now a pond
that is now a house
once a house of lotus

After Du Fu

No emptiness
takes leave
time passes
the speaker
is erased
no absence fills
with memory
everyone is
the same
everyone only
lonely


After Han Shan

No taxis 
in Shanghai
no trains 
no buses 
no horses
the way is clear 
there is no path
dark clouds 
point at nothing
the wind says 
Don’t stop!
I have eaten 
enough today
it rains again
because I’m thirsty
see you someday 
in the mountains