Poem as Marker

A poem can locate a poet's whereabouts, physical, mental or spiritual as the Chinese poet Wang Wan-li, 1127-1206, shows in his poem READING BY THE WINDOW:

I idly open a book of T' ang poems
and find a petal of peach blossom, still fresh.
I remember taking this book with me
       to read among the flowers
​and realize that another year has passed.

Yang Wan-li
Translated by Jonathan Chaves
Heaven My Blanket, Earth My Pillow
WEATHERHILL, 1975



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