A Poem Sent to Li Ying to Match His "Fishing in Summer"
- Poetry of Yu Xuanji

It's odd that you and I live

here on the very same street

and not even once a year

do we run across each other

if you want to impress an old girl friend

you need to produce a pure poem

leaves of the fragrant cassia

break out along new boughs

the nature of the Tao

is simpler than ice or snow

the understanding of Zen

mocks the expense of gauze and silk

my spiritual footprints rise

into the empyrean

but there isn't any path

across love's waves and mist.