(Halfway, my #10 is his #10.)
(The tenth in a series of transformations of Wang Wei's River Wang poems.)
A River
Transformed X: After Wang Wei's South Hill (10)
Leaving the City
A fisherman waves,
his skiff lifted by the ferry's wake
and waves from a tramp steamer headed north
to deliver toys to the river's children
As a blackfish pod breaks the surface,
passengers crowd against wet windows;
the city's lights shattered behind,
the sun's last red radiance ahead.
I leave with too many questions,
the answers in firs along a gravel stream?
You seem certain, your smile without doubt,
except when you glance south, behind us.
Beneath the water, ghost nets, spotted shrimp,
shadows lost to a painter's palette.
The literal translation from a web site:
Light boat south hill go
North hill vast expanse hard reach
Separate bank see person home
Long way off not recognize
http://www.chinese-poems.com/ww9.html
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