Translated from the Chinese by Red Pine with support from the PEN American Center Translation Fund.

80 from Taoteching by Lao Tzu Imagine a small state with a small population  let there be labor-saving tools  that aren’t used  let people consider death  and not move far  let there be boats and carts  but no reason to ride them  let there be armor and weapons  but no reason to employ them  let people return to the use of knots  and be satisfied with their food  and pleased with their clothing  and content with their homes  and happy with their customs  let there be another state so near  people hear its dogs and chickens  but live out their lives  without making a visit

In Kaoling Describing My Feelings  to Commandant Lu of Sanyuan  from In Such Times: The Poetry of Wei Ying-wu The straight and the square rarely advance  I’m serving in the stupidest of posts  I don’t have time to open a book  buried beneath casework and records  the disaster of war has worn us all down  there’s no vacation from corvée and taxes  the downtrodden masses need help  but compassionate measures only cause us trouble  I think of retiring day and night  from outside my door I can see the old mountains  if you feel the same  let’s go back arm-in-arm together The Ninth from In Such Times: The Poetry of Wei Ying-wu Suddenly I’m governing Wu Prefecture and suddenly chrysanthemums are blooming  as I start to think of my garden back home  happily a group of guests arrives

Reprinted with permission of the translator. All rights reserved.