Today's poem is by Chengru He

Visiting a Friend on a Snowy Night
       

Tonight the moon is quiet. Fresh
white covers the world. Fallen

branches all over. I want to row
a boat like Wang Huizhi, to your

door, before the next snow, to see
your light. One foot plus another

is two feet — my feet recognize only
the Milky Way in your mind, a silver

railroad crossing snow
-covered land. I walk and walk, as if

smelling the petals in your
teacup. The cold eats my ears.

Behind me the miniature city blocks
flicker. Quiet in quietness, no echoes

from the sky. The Jin Dynasty snow
keeps falling. You stay in poetry

with Dai Kui, light him a cigarette;
he pours you the snow-brewed tea,

in silence, both expecting an unpromised
knock. Wang Huizhi's night boat

is waiting. The creek is covered in snow.
I walk and walk, like Wang, no longer

care where I'm going. Passion's hand
melts snow, cools down in the white.

By your door, a late cicada. In my pocket,
a pair of horse chestnuts from the fall,

now dry and hard, clank in time
with my homebound feet.

Tweet
Copyright © 2023 Chengru He All rights reserved
from Colorado Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission