One Thought, a Mortal Life · Stubborn and Foolish by Nature · 70 / 102
· Word Unsent, a Later Promise Missed
The hills are a misty blur; a cold eye drinks in the wind and haze, and hanging sleeves snap in the gusts. Look at the river, running clearly apart — is the slow decay of year after year all we know? Years have passed; reckon it up, and the days of must lie far behind. What is ever enough! I keep to what is right; come from far off, I have many lives yet to bear and repay.
The gray cliff darkens, all I see is murk, grass and trees rustle, and a plays on and on. I sigh at the cloud-heights and think of the birds in flight; coming to rest out of the blue void, I look back — and look back wrongly. Do not ask why someone has grown thinner. Do not speak of having no choice, do not crave the jostling human world: I was cool and thin of heart from the start, and half my life has been marked down.
*This piece is an original work. If you repost it, please credit the original author Shixi Lin; any infringement, once discovered, will be pursued to the full extent of the law. In addition, the accompanying illustration comes from the internet and belongs to its original artist, Yichui Wuyue.