HENRY KISSINGER ~

R E A D     M E     I' M     A     C R I M I N A L 

MENG JIAO ~

 

Why Complain

Bad poetry gets you good posts.

Good poetry

Gets you to a mountain.

Hugging the mountain

You shiver

Daylong you hug it

For cold

With a dour face.

Some position, that.

Poetry,

Good for nothing, you think,

— It courts envy.

Daggers drawn soon point at your clenched teeth,

The good & the great are long dead.

You chew over their work.  Best dead.

For what it's worth.

& shall I not, now nearing the end of life,

Have some peace of mind —

A person of few words

Who has withstood his time?

The pack descended,

Glowering

You are wanted.

______________________

In the Same Light

200 Poems for Our Century

translated by Wang May

The Song Cave, 2022