Status Update By Sam Hamill Another week or so and Crossing the Yellow River will ship from the printer. You can order a copy or three from Tiger Bark Press today. Tu Fu (712-770) Anti-war poem by Tu Fu (712–770) translated by Sam Hamill. Song of the War Wagons Wagons clang and horses cry as soldiers pass with bows and arrows. Families clamor to watch them go. A huge cloud of dust swallows the trembling bridge. Clinging to their clothes, they weep and stumble by, their cries echoing through the sky. And if you questioned them, they would say, “Conscripted at fifteen, we fought for the north; now almost forty, we move to fight in the west. Once, villagers gave us honors. Now we return white-haired, heading toward frontiers. We’ve shed a sea of blood. Still the emperor wants more. East of the mountains, a thousand villages, ten thousand villages, turn to bitter weeds. Even when strong women work the fields, our canals and crops are feeble. The warriors of Ch’in fight on, driven like dogs and cattle. You may ask, but we don’t dare complain. This winter we await new troops while officials raise new taxes. But where will the money come from? We’ve learned the grief of raising sons— not like the quiet joy of daughters we can marry to our neighbors.” Our boys lie under the weeds. Near Kokonor, their old white bones remain with no one to collect them. Old ghosts and new complaints: you can hear them all night long through falling mist and rain.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 03:23:00 +0000
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