"I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom. I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in quest of the sacred knowing of the ancients." Gustave Courbet

10 June 2019

Returned.

Monet, Olive Tree Wood in the Moreno Garden, 1884


RISING from a NAP at NOON

How can you stay awake all day?
At noon I think of taking a nap.
My bamboo bed has been warmed by the sun;
I toss and turn but cannot fall asleep,
So I get up, scratch my white head,
  And walk around the veranda a hundred times.

Just as I’m feeling most depressed
a strange thing happens to me –
a breeze blows through the northern door
and past the southern window,
  past the southern window,
      wafting to me
the fragrance of young orchids.

Cooled by the breeze, this old man feels refreshed,
as if he had returned to life.
But in the future, at times like this,
will the breeze come again?

Yang Wan-Li

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