Yang Wan-li: "Crossing Open-Anew Lake"

A fisherman’s taking his boat deep across the lake.

My old eyes trace his path all the way, his precise

wavering, in and out of view. Then it gets strange:

suddenly he’s a lone goose balancing on a bent reed.

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Yang Wan-li (楊萬里, 양만리, 1127-1206) was a Song dynasty (宋, 송, 960-1279) bureaucrat and poet. He was born in what is now Ji’an (吉安, 길안) in Jiangxi Province (江西省, 강서성); his courtesy name (字, 자) is Tingxiu (廷秀, 정수); and his pen name (號, 호) is Chengzhai (誠齋, 성재).

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Mountain Home: The Wilderness Poetry of Ancient China, edited and translated by David Hinton (New Directions; Revised edition, May 30, 2005)