Chinese Journey 18

By Olga Sedakova
Translated by Jena Woodhouse

Let us praise our earth,

   let us praise the moon on the water,

that which is with no one and with all,

             which is nowhere and everywhere –

the size of a swallow’s eye,

         of a crumb of dry bread,

of a ladder on a butterfly’s wings,

     of a ladder cast from the sky.

Not only trouble and pity

         are the yoke to my heart,

but also the smiling

              of miraculous water.

Let us praise the bathing of priceless dark branches

          in living glass

and all the spirits, vigilant

      above each grain in the soil.

And that there is a recompense,

          that there is a barrier against harm, 

that, as the garden has a gardener,

       the earth has praise.

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