untitled (meeting is hard, and parting is hard)
meeting is hard, and parting is hard
soft spring winds can’t destroy every flower
silkworms live utterly for silk till they die;1
candles burn down to ash; only then do tears dry
she worries until dawn-dressing; her temples cloud over2
night sounds accompany her as the moon rimes over
mt. penglai sits in the clouds3—there are scarce few roads
the queen mother’s black birds4 are kept busy to and fro
无题·相见时难别亦难
李商隐
相见时难别亦难，东风无力百花残。
春蚕到死丝方尽，蜡炬成灰泪始干。
晓镜但愁云鬓改，夜吟应觉月光寒。
蓬山此去无多路，青鸟殷勤为探看。
Gushiwensday
finding time to meet is hard; parting is hard too.
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sī “silk” and “thoughts; longing” are homonyms ↩︎
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“temple-clouds” is a poetic expression for a woman’s hair ↩︎
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penglai: one of the mountains where immortals (xiān) live ↩︎
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the queen mother of the west, not explicitly named in this poem, is a Daoist deity, patron of female Daoists and unconventional women. her messengers/servants are three-legged birds. ↩︎