Dear Reader,
According to legend, Li Po, one of the great poets of the T’ang Dynasty, drowned when he allegedly fell overboard reaching out to touch the moon.
It’s a fitting end to Li Po’s story.
His poem Drinking Alone By Moonlight showcases both his love for drink and his unusual attachment to the moon:
Here among flowers one flask of wine,
With no close friends, I pour it alone.
I lift cup to bright moon, beg its company,
Then facing my shadow, we become three.
The moon has never known how to drink;
My shadow does nothing but follow me.
But with moon and shadow as companions the while,
This joy I find must catch spring while it's here.
I sing, and the moon just lingers on;
I dance, and my shadow flails wildly.
When still sober we share friendship and pleasure,
Then, utterly drunk, each goes his own way—
Let us join to roam beyond human cares
And plan to meet far in the river of stars.
For Li Po, wine and the moon symbolized that which was “beyond human cares”, a desire to live beyond this world, recognizing that the solace they offered was only a fleeting moment of bliss. Li Po’s tragic death serves then as a warning—that life must be lived as it is and not according to the momentary fantasies that occupy our minds in the midnight hour.
If we end up lost in our fantasies and blind to the moment, we will end up like Li Po, balancing on the edge of a boat trying to grab what was never really there. As a poet I am all to aware that I cannot live in the poems I write. In the end, poetry is an art of clever fictions. Like the night sky on the surface of the water, all art is just a vague representation trying to depict that which is real. Sometimes, we succeed, and one cannot tell the difference between representation and reality, but even then, we cannot stay there. We must rise from the page and learn to live.
The moon is far prettier in person.
Enjoy!
LOOKING FOR THE MOON
To Li Po
Hard Pressed for words
I realize the truth:
these poems I write
are like reflections
in a pool.
Best get up
and see the real thing.