In the desert she rides across the sun-burnt sands
Rick Stassi
Regard the tiresome distrust with every spoonful
of beans, scrutinized by beady eyes.
A fern surrounds my life like a hollow maze
In the intricate lattice of love’s first gaze;
Following a pattern that guides me on this road
I reach for her lips beneath the mistletoe.
My love comes forth with the apple of desire,
A tangled taste that takes a life to acquire;
Magic and nightshade in a mandrake stew,
I drink the nighttime herbs in a witch’s brew.
Seared in my skin like a tattoo of her name,
My cry has faded to a touch without shame;
Pulled by a thread that stains the earth and sky
Morning breaks the blades,
Fate is a sword that swings by chance—
I wonder where my brothers have gone.
Wiping these tears that wet my sleeves,
I comb my hair like a silken lawn.
The earth is vulgar, vast, and wild,
But Heaven is far, like the distant dawn.
For who is spared from sickness in time?
I cannot see you though life slips on.
Original Chinese Poem
Hundreds of acres—this garden is covered with moss;
Peach flowers now cauliflowers, filling to the end.
Where did the monk who tended this soil go?
Once I was young and now I’m back here again.
Original in Chinese
