Poem: Qian Qi

[image source]

FAREWELL TO A JAPANESE BUDDHIST PRIEST BOUND HOMEWARD

You were foreordained to find the source.
Now, tracing your way as in a dream
There where the sea floats up the sky,
You wane from the world in your fragile boat....
The water and the moon are as calm as your faith,
Fishes and dragons follow your chanting,
And the eye still watches beyond the horizon
The holy light of your single lantern.

Tags: Qian Qi, poem, Tang poetry, China, Farewell to a Japanese Priest Bound Homeward