(After Tu Fu)
I don’t get out of bed.
I drink wine as a thousand stars
pass over my head.
I stare at the darkness
like an incomprehensible book.
The illusions of my youth
were miserable lies.
What will it be like to die?
I only know that soon
I’ll no longer be here.
I’ve lived for sixty years.
It brings me no cheer.
I achieved no fame.
I watch a shooting star
burn and disappear.
In my mind I feel its pain.
