Three Poems by George Freek

IN EXILE (After TU FU)

Swallows rise in the air.
They seem to go nowhere.
Then disappear, as if
they'd never been here.
I feel the weight
of fate, as if some god
was once in this room,
but has gone away,
and left it a sterile place.
As I sip a cup of tea,
rain whispers a somber song
among the dying leaves.
The eyes of the moon
are cold and grim,
as they stare at me.

EVENING IN THE VILLAGE (After LU YU)

A cat crouches in dead tulips,
staring at a robin,
who's eyeing a fat worm.
The wind comes as fast
as a trumpet blast,
and the cat loses his chance.
A starling outflanks the robin
to steal the prize.
The robin despairs
with nothing for his efforts.
The cat looks at both,
with melancholy eyes;
He knows what it is to grow old.
Night arrives in tight shoes,
with aching bones.
I gaze at my garden.
It is full of crumbling stones.
This is my life. No man
should have to live alone.

A THOUSAND PIECES OF SNOW (After FUNG HAE SUH)

My life has broken into pieces.
My wife is no longer alive.
I walk in circles. It doesn't matter
where I go. Darkness
smothers me like a pillow.
That is all I know.
Snow rims the pond's edge,
creeping toward its heart.
Still drunk from last night,
I wade into the freezing water.
I'm reaching for the moon,
fallen from the sky.
It's right before my eyes.
I'll embrace it one more time.
Then I can also die.