Book of Changes
I
Wind river
Ocean airs
Clouds race
Birds watch
From shelter
With anchor feet.
Sounds stretched thin.
“The Creative is heaven.
It is round, it is the prince,
The father, jade, metal, cold, ice;
It is deep red, a good horse, a lean horse,
A wild horse, tree fruit.”
II
News from far off
Sorrow and treachery.
Collecting radish seeds
As they ripen
Between the rains.
“The great prince issues commands
Founds estates, vests families with fiefs.
Inferior people should not be employed.”
III
Dawn already in the east.
Rain in the west.
We wait for news, and names.
The kettle bubbles.
“The well. The town may be changed,
But the well cannot be changed.
It neither increases nor decreases.
They come and go and draw from the well.
If one gets down almost to the water
And the rope does not go all the way,
Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.”
IV
Standing still,
All the flock, backs turned
To the wind.
When the storm is over
The grass shall taste sweeter.
“Innocence. Supreme success.
Perseverance furthers.
If someone is not as he should be,
He has misfortune,
And it does not further him
To undertake anything.”
—
I recently picked up a copy of Richard Wilhelm’s “I Ching or book of changes”. I had it many years ago, and though it is probably not the best translation, it carries a certain, stately grandeur in its language. This morning, in stormy weather, I decided to see what happened combining a few short verses I had written with random selections from the book. Meaningless and meaningful. Everything becomes oracular. Juxtaposition revealing the mysteries of the mundane.
simonhlilly 