Hsieh Ling-Yun

Hsieh Ling-Yun

"Brushing my clothes"
I embrace the wind,
past haunted Kunlun Mountains.
I hear the voices of the Immortals.
Echoes of the stones speak.
I listen to their wisdom.
Walking alone in the darkness
the empty sky fills with stars.
The White Rabbit on the Moon
jumps from behind a dark cloud,
lighting my path around cliffs
that ends where the Void begins.
Walking up and down mountains
on my hands and knees.
Tired, I sleep and dream.
The gibbons awaken the dawn.
Yellow and pink explode in the East.
I rise "on tiptoe atop a stone
I cup a waterfall" and drink.
The Three Rivers share my thirst.
Memories of home flood my mind.
I walk alone.

I have gazed at the horizon,
and in the adventure,
thought it a lonely place to be.

                                     from "Whistling Past the Graveyard"