Poem: Li Po in the mountains

By Jack Brummet
painting of Lip Po by Liang K'ai (13th century)

Four hundred and sixty-thousand
Moons ago, Li Po sits
Drinking wine on a bluff.

The sun slides into the blue mountains.
Crickets tune up and the first bats
Sail from roost to roost.

I think about Li Po drunk again.
He holds an inkpot, scroll, and brush.

Between the mountains and stars,

A crow wheels over fogged red pines
Spiring in moonlight.
LiPo shakes wet peach blossoms

From his coat and fills the cup again.
Silver moonlight dances on the golden wine
In green ceramic cup.
                    ---o0o---

Written 1990, Published in Electrum

revised June, 2014