My poem draws from a popular Song Dynasty tune called the Lecher’s Rhapsody and another poem of mine, 士申七夕 (On The Seventh Evening Of The Seventh Month). According to legend, at a certain time every year, the Herd Boy and the Weaving Girl are allowed to meet. The legend alludes to lovers and couples forced to live in different areas of the country, as well as to an elaborate and beautiful chariot drawn by piebald horses. Is the poem thus not just about love, but of loneliness and solitude?

Of course, my ruminations were all just vanity. In the end, it all didn’t matter. The great river of life would continue. Without perturbation, the love flowed over and around me, with no beginning and no end, neither welcoming nor discarding me.

白道萦回入暮霞，  bái dào yíng huí rù mù xiá
斑骓嘶断七香车。  bān zhuī sī duàn qī xiāng chē
春风自共何人笑，  chūn fēng zì gòng hé rén xiào
枉破阳城千万家。  wǎng pò yáng chéng qiān wàn jiā

The whitened path blends into rosy clouds,
Sounds of horses and splendid dashing chariots.
Spring’s vernal pleasures bring out the fun in me,
Yet, city of millions, don’t laugh, I’m alone, you see.

***

About the Calligraphy
白道萦回入暮霞，斑骓嘶断七香车。The whitened path blends into rosy clouds, Sounds of horses and splendid dashing chariots. (3 rows, 14 characters, Cursive Cao Script): M.O. Ndesandjo