Autumn Kessei 2017 week 2

by tendo zenji

Dwelling in the Mountains 12

Far off to the south are
peaks like Pine-Needle and Nest Hen,
Halcyon-Knoll and Brimmed-Stone,

Harrow and Spire Ridges faces together,
Elder and Eye-Loft cleaving summits.

When you go deep, following a winding river to its source,
you’re soon bewildered, wandering a place beyond knowing:

cragged peaks towering above stay lost in confusions of mist,
and depths sunken away far below surge and swell in a blur.

—Hsieh Ling-yün (385-433)
translated by David Hinton in Mountain Home