Page 115 - Dragon&Fairy in Poetry

Thanh Thanh

IMPERMANENCE SONG

Original “Liên Khúc Vô Thường” by
PHAN BÁ THỤY DƯƠNG

1.
I burnt the koans, threw the sutras, in recognition,
Followed the moonlit path of ambition
(The moonlight being now bright now gray)
To look for the sage who had hidden out-of-the-way,
Left subastral for forests trying to be an eremite.
The life line of an anchorite
Seemed to tint the miasma tinge.
At marinas, on impermanence who would impinge?
After a long route, horses were loose from bridle.
On the cliff dimly loomed the portrait of the idol.

2.
I flung the koans, buried the sutras, in non-
realization,
Skirted rivers and seas to reach peaceful mentation.
Half-spleenful, half-remembering, half-forgetting
Suddenly disappeared in the ethereal setting.
My deceiving hand wrote verse on each leaf.
The lymphatic soul felt adrift in the deluding fief.
Where were you still?
Where were humans? why was so silent the nil?
Night flowers' fragrancy boded a bloom environment.

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