Leave the long fall between us (peak after peak)
Here were my paints and there were my powders
And then I was drunk and we lost each other
My shadow tumbled after
Soaking cinnamon leaves in the lake of the moon
The roll of the damned drum calls me to duty
The dice in the light of the lamp
I hear a stone gong
I lean full weight on my slender staff
Yellow leaves shaken and petals confused to my garden
The hard road is written to music
How lovely locks, in bright mirrors, in high chambers
The moon shows further a gold and silver terrace
The northern grass is blue as jade
(A dream) venting in the pit of heaven
About this poem:
"In 2012 I was invited by the artist Chris Duncan to take part in a reading to celebrate the opening of an exhibition entitled Horizon. I decided to write a poem on that theme using shades of Chinese poetry from the T'ang Dynasty (618-906). The title is an homage to Kenneth Patchen after his 1946 volume, Panels for the Walls of Heaven."
Larger Type | Home | Help | Contact Us | Privacy Policy