The red and green kingfishers <br />flash between the orchids and clover, <br />One bird casts its gleam on another. <br />Green vines hang through the high forest, <br />They weave a whole roof to the mountain, <br />The lone man sits with shut speech, <br />He purrs and pats the clear strings. <br />He throws his heart up through the sky, <br />He bites through the flower pistil <br />and brings up a fine fountain. <br />The red-pine-tree god looks at him and wonders. <br />He rides through the purple smoke to visit the sennin, <br />He takes 'Floating Hill' by the sleeve, <br />He claps his hand on the back of the great water sennin. <br /> <br />But you, you dam'd crowd of gnats, <br />Can you even tell the age of a turtle?<br /><br />Ezra Pound<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sennin-poem-by-kakuhaku/
