Steady Rain, Drinking Alone
Life soon returns to nothing. The ancients
all said it circles away like this. And if
Sung and Ch’iao ever lived in this world
without dying, where are they now? Still,
my old neighbor swears his wine makes you
immortal, so I try a little. Soon, those
hundred feelings grow distant. Another cup,
and suddenly I’ve forgotten heaven. O,
how could heaven be anywhere but here?
Stay true to the actual, yielding to all things,
and in a moment, unearthly cloud-cranes
carrying immortals beyond all eight horizons
return. Since I first embraced solitude,
I’ve struggled through forty years. And yet,
in this body long since lost to change,
my thoughts remain, quite silent afterall.