I am late joining the Poetry Friday tradition set up a year or so ago by Kelly Herold, my hero in the kidlitosphere over at Edge of the Forest and Big A, little a. For an overview of Poetry Friday, check out the fantastic article by Susan Thomsen (who blogs as Chicken Spaghetti...I love that!) published at PoetryFoundation.org with the wonderfully cheeky subtitle: "It's an online literary happy hour without the drinks."
What possible contribution could I make in this worldwide celebration of poetry with so many better versed (pun intended) experts sharing their favorite poems each and every Friday?
Then, I thought: why not offer up ancient Chinese poems that are spare yet gorgeous in honor of my yearlong stint in Shanghai? So here is my first offering (and check out how LONG ago this poem was written!!):
The Palace of Rocks
by Yuan Jie (719-772)
At the palace of rocks, spring clouds white--
white clouds are best for the green moss;
brush apart the clouds, tread the rocky path:
what ordinary man could come along?
beautiful, Justina. Thanks for putting this here. I'm taking a break at the children's lit festival here in Missouri (ah . . ) after teaching all day. Reading this was fresh air.
ReplyDeleteJanet
Welcome to Poetry Friday!
ReplyDeleteOh, that's lovely. Thanks for sharing.
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