poetry jam :: Thoughts by Tu Fu

Image of the Milky Way by NASA

I sit on our south porch in the deep night, 

moonlight incandescent on my knees, 

gusty winds tumbling Star River* over

until morning sun clears the rooftops.

Things wild sleep alone. Then waking, 

they set out in herds and flocks. And I 

too hurry kids along, scratch out our

living with the same stingy industry. 

Passerby grow rare under cold, year-

end skies. Days and months slip away. 

Caught in the scramble for glory, we 

people made bedlam lice of ourselves. 

Before emperors, people ate their fill 

and were content, then someone began

knotting ropes, and now we’re mired 

in the glue and varnish of government. 

It all started with Sui, inventor of fire, 

and Tung’s fine histories made it utter

disaster. If you light candles and lamps, 

you know moths will gather in swarms. 

Search out through all eight horizons: 

you find nothing anywhere but isolate

emptiness, departure and return one

movement, one ageless way of absence. 

Tu Fu (712-770) is considered one of the greatest poets in China. He combined the sweep of political upheaval with human emotion in ways that are relatable to contemporary readers. In this poem, we see the speaker sitting on the porch musing about the natural and human worlds and how industry/war/power has robbed folks of sustenance and peace. You can read more about his life and poetry here. I pulled this poem from Classical Chinese Poetry: an Anthology, translated and edited by David Hinton, which would make a great addition to your home library.

*a beautiful way to say the Milky Way.

Tonight, sit outside and look at the sky. Think about this poem, maybe reread it. Consider the vastness of the human experience and its ability to create and absorb great beauty and destruction. Choose a few phrases that stand out to you and use them as writing or thinking prompts.