Spring In The Garden

After a night of rain
I go out, wearing clogs

wrapped in an old overcoat
against the spring cold

water pours white
through the open dikes

peach blossoms glow red
beyond the willows

fields of new grass spread away
edged and checkered

poles rise from the wells
at the wood's edge

I go back in
to write at my small desk

evening arrives, I'm alone
happy among green weeds.

~Five Tang Poets~   Translated by David Young