After Han-Shan

(On a sumi-e painting of
Han-Shan & Shih-te by
the Zen monk Sengai.)

Han-Shan, old chinese poet madman,
tramp & hermit, a true poet of the colloquial.
Often he came down from Cold Mountain
to visit Shih-te at the Kuo-ch'ing Temple.
The monks there cannot understand them;
these two madmen laugh at everything - Ha Ha!
Their laughter rings out, loud & clear
as the black-ink brush strokes of this painting.

1966