April 15^th, 2019

Dwelling in the Mountains

Looking up to the example that old sage handed down,
and considering what comes easily to my own nature,
I offered myself to this tranquil dwelling of repose,
and now nurture my lifework in the drift of idleness.
Master Pan's early awakening always humbled me,
and I was shamed by master Shang's old age insight,
so with years and sickness both closing in upon me
I devoted myself to simplicity and returned to it all,
left that workaday life for this wisdom of wandering,
for this wilderness of rivers-and-mountains clarity.