In a Small Boat I Could Leave Here

"I often mourn this body that doesn't really belong to me.
When can I forget this life of contention?
The night is deep, wind quiet, ripples smoothed flat.
In a small boat I could leave here
and live out the rest of my life on this river and the sea."
– Su Shi, from "Returning to Lingao at Night, to the Tune of 'Immortal by the River."







It is true that the heart and soul by spring
is leery of finally waking out of winter sleep.
The eye latches onto the new white sheets
of sunshine that drape along the house sides;
spring red-wings and robins spark
the tightly pulled drum of surrounding silence,
and something stirs inside by rote.
Across the street a small river conncted
to a string of ancient glacial lakes.
By water one could escape forever.