Poetry: The Boatman’s Flute by Yang Wan-Li (楊萬里)

The Boatman’s Flute 
by Yang Wan-Li (楊萬里) 
Tr. Jonathan Chaves 

Today there is no wind on the Yangtze; 
the water is calm and green 
with no waves or ripples. 
All around the boat 
light floats in the air 
over a thousand acres of smooth, lustrous jade. 

One of the boatmen wants to break the silence. 
High on wine, he picks up his flute and plays into the mist. 
The clear music rises to the sky–– 	
        an ape in the mountains 
	screaming at the moon; 
	a creek rushing through a gully. 
Someone accompanies on the sheepskin drum,  
	his head held steady as a peak, 
	his fingers beating like raindrops. 

A fish breaks the crystal surface of the water 
and leaps ten feet into the air. 

---
Yang, Wan-Li (楊萬里). “The Boatman’s Flute.” Zen poems. Ed. Peter Harris. London: Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets, 1999.129.

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