Old Creek

by Muso Soseki

English version by Nelson Foster and Josh Shoemaker
Original Language Japanese

Since before anyone remembers
     it has been clear
          shining like silver
though the moonlight penetrates it
     and the wind ruffles it
          no trace of either remains

Today I would not dare
     to expound the secret
          of the stream bed
But I can tell you
     that the blue dragon
          is coiled there.

-- from Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader, Edited by Nelson Foster / Edited by Josh Shoemaker

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Sun at Midnight: Muso Soseki - Poems and Sermons East Window: Poems from Asia Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader



Old Creek