Driven rains cannot douse your light
Winds will only fan it brighter
Suppose you’d set off to fly away, very far
Surely beside the moon you’d be, a star!
—Li Bai, T’ang dynasty.
Translated by Gary Gach.
∞
From the Spring 2015 issue of Inquiring Mind (Vol. 31, No. 2)
© 2015 Gary Gach
Translator and poet Gary Gach is editor of What Book!? Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop
(Parallax Press; American Book Award), author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buddhism
(Alpha Books; second edition), and translator of three books of poetry by Ko Un, SSN. A teacher of Buddhism and haiku, he serves on the International Advisory Panel of The Buddhist Channel (http://buddhistchannel.tv). He hosts Mindfulness Fellowship weekly in San Francisco. Visit www.levity.com/interbeing. Li Bai (701–762), also known as Li Bo, was a prominent Chinese poet of the T’ang dynasty.
Translator and poet Gary Gach is editor of What Book!? Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop
(Parallax Press; American Book Award), author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buddhism
(Alpha Books; second edition), and translator of three books of poetry by Ko Un, SSN. A teacher of Buddhism and haiku, he serves on the International Advisory Panel of The Buddhist Channel (http://buddhistchannel.tv). He hosts Mindfulness Fellowship weekly in San Francisco. Visit www.levity.com/interbeing. Li Bai (701–762), also known as Li Bo, was a prominent Chinese poet of the T’ang dynasty.