Poems 1960-2010

AFTER YUAN CHEN

That we are clouds,
thwarted, driven,

parted by the wind

fills me
with doubt.

I am no cloud,
nor are you.

Let us be simple:
let the clouds

do their work;
while we

encumbered
as we sometimes are

with wetness,   darkness,
drift our‑

selves skyward
with storms so wild

that all clouds ache
and part

as we fly
to that moon

which lets us keep
our simple flight.