A Stern Man Visits Me, Laughing
Shan, HanConsider Seng-yu, so adept
You expect eyes at his fingertips.
What wasn't real under his brush
When, when he painted eyes, his dragons flew?
In that realm, which mortal eye never eyed,
He saw. But asked to paint Chih-Kung,
So many faces faced him in that countenance,
Layer under layer, he couldn't draw at all.
Copyright World Poetry, Incorporated Jul/Aug 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved