Bian He’s Jade Disk

It’s still out there. It’s not lost.
Not to those who know it well.
Lü was wrong. It’s not more crude

Than the Dao. The Way is crude,
Like all ways that men have made,
Cut through hills with veins of jade.

No king can cut off the feet
Of one born with no feet, hey?
You can’t find jade in a stone

You don’t hold. Sit by the Way
With us, not on it. Get off
Course and rest on this flat rock

Next to us. It’s a good perch,
Hey? Good views of sky and dust.
What did you say? Yes, that’s jade.

Be and See

We’ve got some time to kill.

Sit a spell. You can wring

The neck of the dawn—pluck

All the fluff from its skin.

What to do once time’s dead?

Cook up a nice fat noon,

The sun an egg too bright

To look at, fun to bite.

And once all our time’s gone?

Rinse our lips with cold wind,

And nip the frost for mints.

Go home full. Say, Good night.