Poem
Jun Er
Sea Jewel
this sea water bluer than the sky:if I could hunt out words in it
I’m sure they’d say it too has given up hope
and does not want to extend its passions extravagantly
into the depths any more
was it only salt you admitted and refused
with your softness, each grain
crystallizing in your bitterness?
was it only sunlight that piled up brief
shatterings?
getting through this life is all I have to look forward to
your transparency and your purity are too abrupt for me
they always leave me feeling momentarily
at a loss for words
© Translation: 2006, Simon Patton
SEA JEWEL
© 2006, Jun Er
Poems
Poems of Jun Er
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Sea Jewel
this sea water bluer than the sky:if I could hunt out words in it
I’m sure they’d say it too has given up hope
and does not want to extend its passions extravagantly
into the depths any more
was it only salt you admitted and refused
with your softness, each grain
crystallizing in your bitterness?
was it only sunlight that piled up brief
shatterings?
getting through this life is all I have to look forward to
your transparency and your purity are too abrupt for me
they always leave me feeling momentarily
at a loss for words
© 2006, Simon Patton
Sea Jewel
this sea water bluer than the sky:if I could hunt out words in it
I’m sure they’d say it too has given up hope
and does not want to extend its passions extravagantly
into the depths any more
was it only salt you admitted and refused
with your softness, each grain
crystallizing in your bitterness?
was it only sunlight that piled up brief
shatterings?
getting through this life is all I have to look forward to
your transparency and your purity are too abrupt for me
they always leave me feeling momentarily
at a loss for words
© 2006, Simon Patton
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