Chewing ice and eating bark, wishes unfulfilled,
Jin River and Hu Pass in my dreams,
I want to crack this Qin mirror in half. Sorrow is a fallen magpie.
Let Shun play his zither. I grieve at the flight of geese.
By the well paulownia leaves sound off in autumn rain.
Under the window a silver lantern, dark from the morning wind.
Letters sent out into the void. Where would I go to ask?
I hold a fishing rod till the end of day, but this whole green river is empty.Yu Xuanji, ‘A Love Letter for Li Zi’an’, translated from the Chinese text by Lucas Klein
photo: diminishing November 2014 sunshine filtered through the confines of the 25’ Coronado sailboat – serial #745, s/v Hattie Mae, my first sailboat, for $5000 – which served as base camp for endless adventures as well as my home over several winters in Alaska.
