Excerpts from
Water, Rushes and the Moon
By Thorkild Bjørnvig
Water, Rushes and the Moon
To a painting: Sleeping Fisherman in a Boat
(Tai Wen-Chin, China c. 1446)
The wind in the rushes calls forth dreams;
they sprout on the bottom, grow up through the water,
sway in the breeze, are opened toward stars and clouds,
dewdrops trickle down their stems; through the sleepy haze
shines the moon, ascending.
The fisherman lies in his boat asleep,
his face resting on folded arms, half out of
the rush-plaited tent. In front, and above the boat - rushes;
and all the rushes with their delicate wisp-like flowers
stretch past the sleeper up toward the moon.
Is this the Earth? Am I seeing the dreamer in a dream? Not
the Himalayas or Antarctic, not the Grand Canyon or New York,
not a screeching gull-invaded refuse dump or smoking volcano.
No, the Earth itself, sound asleep and dreaming
like the sleeper in the boat. Water, rushes and the moon.
From Thorkild Bjørnvig: The World Tree. Mermaid Press/Gyldendal 1993
Translated by Paula Hostrup-Jessen
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