After Lunch

After Lunch

after the meal: doze off for one nap;

waking, it’s time for two bowls of tea—

raise my head to gaze at the sun; it’s

already turned southwest, light slanting—

those who are glad rue the urgent sun;

those who grieve hate the distant new year—

those knowing neither grief nor gladness

bear life, long or short, to the far shore

translation © Jack Hayes 2018

based on Bai Juyi: 食後

Shí Hòu

Image links to its source on Wiki Commons:

Excerpts from Bai Juyi's "Biography of a Master of Drunken Poetry": calligraphy by Fujiwara no Yukinari（972 – 1028）; detached section of a handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper – early 11^th century.

Public domain