May 1, 2018

Max’s Musings

By Max Molleston

We are just lucky. April column on Spring would have been “out of tune.” May as it has turned out is apropos. After all the snows are done, the east coast may be more willing to reconsider the propositions about climate change. On the other hand, could it be nature is helping moisture levels by bringing more?

When I first read Kenneth Rexroth he was featured in a publication on Chinese translation. He claimed no scholarship in his work, but it was and is to me. Translation of other lands poems brings so much more thought to our eyes and minds.

Another Spring.

The seasons revolve and the years change

With no assistance or supervision

The moon, without taking thought,

Moves in its cycle, full, crescent, and full.

The white moon enters the heart of the river,

The air is drugged with azalea blossoms,

Deep in the night a pine cone falls,

Our campfire dies out in the empty mountains.

The sharp stars flicker in the tremulous branches,

The lake is black, bottomless in the crystalline night,

High in the sky the Northern Crown

Is cut in half by the dim summit of a snow peak.

O heart, heart, so singularly Intransigent and corruptible,

Here we lie entranced by the starlit water,

And moments that should each last forever—

Slide unconsciously by us like water.

It as been a long while since I let us enjoy a total poem, but I particularly like Kenneth Rexroth and what he accomplishes. No, there is no indication in this book, “Good Poems” this is translation. Having read lots of Chinese translations, not all Rexroth’s, it sure reads, with some pondering about Spring, more west than Midwest.

Thanks for your interest in what I bring each month for our pleasure. June is soon. Be here, please.

Filed Under: Personal Growth

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