ABSTRACT
The poet brings light into great darkness, / even if that means the simple / must become difficult or the difficult easy.
Hence, the tiger may silence other beasts, / the dragon frighten away birds / in terrifying waves. Writing, the traveling / is sometimes level and easy, / sometimes rocky and steep. Calm the heart’s dark waters; / collect from deep thoughts / the proper names for things. Heaven and earth are trapped in visible form: / all things emerge / from within the writing
brush. At first, the brush / parches our lips, but soon / it grows moist from dipping. Truth is the tree trunk; / style makes beautiful foliage. Emotion and reason are not two: / every shift in feeling must be read. Finding true joy, find laughter / in sorrow, identify each sigh. Sometimes the words come freely; / sometimes we sit in silence, / gnawing on a brush.
