From the Empirical Archives: Cold Mountain by Wayne Lee

Cold Mountain

Wayne Lee

Originally published in the January 2013 issue of Empirical

Han-shan says after a moment of bliss,

This is better than where I live. I see

Cold Mountain disappearing into mist.

My life among these thousand-meter cliffs,

my days of hermitage and poverty

evanescing in a moment of bliss.

I look in the mirror and I see wisps

of white, like clouds among the leafless trees,

Cold Mountain disappears into mist.

This day and the years gone by are endless

ripples, like rivers flowing to the east –

Han-shan vanishing on moments of bliss.

I have no desire now to reminisce

about my profession or family

as Cold Mountain disappears into mist.

Some may ask, did Han-shan ever exist?

Yes, I did, but now I have been set free –

a puff of smoke in a moment of bliss,

Cold Mountain disappearing into mist . . . .

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