The minor magistrate is drunk
Reeling from the poem
Of which he is not the star
(Number LII of Kenneth Rexroth's
100 Poems From the Chinese)
He staggers past Mei Yao Chen
Mourning his dead wife, then,
Three pages later, past the ghost
Of Mei's wife, fumbling in moonlight
In her kit, looking for green thread
To fix a patch on Mei's coat.
Tu Fu gives him wine; Li Ching Chao
Gives him a message for Chu Shu Chen:
Too much time has passed; the wind
Must be forgiven. At last, he falls asleep
Next to the colophon, murmuring
"Bembo, you are my only friend."
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