Friday, January 23, 2015

In Wiry Winter - James Schuyler (1970)

IN WIRY WINTER 

The shadow of a bird
upon the yard upon
a house: it's gone.
Through a pane a
beam like a warm hand
laid upon an arm.
A thin shell, trans-
parent, blue: the
atmosphere in which
to swim. Burr. A
cold plunge. The bird
is back. All the same,
to swim, plunging
upward, arms as wings,
into calm cold. Warm
within the act,
treading air, a
shadow on the yard.
Or floating, gliding.
a shadow on the roofs
and drives, in action
warm, the shadow cold
but brief. To swim
in air. No. Not in
this wiry winter air.
A beam comes in the
glass, a hand to
warm an arm. A hand
upon the glass
finds it a kind
of ice. The shadow
of a bird less cold.

       - James Schuyler (1970)


Friday, January 9, 2015

Monday, January 5, 2015

Sleeping in the clouds is cold

I explored the grounds with monks this evening, 
And now the night has passed. 
Heavy silence rises all around us
While late moonlight spills through the forest. 
The mountain rises almost to heaven. 
Sleeping in the clouds is cold. 
A single stroke of the early prayer-bell wake me. 
Does it also waken my soul?

 - Tu Fu (712-770)