A Half Finished Verse on the Mountain of Sacrifice

By Xuanzang (Translated by Lan Hua)

After unstinting effort
Of the human frame
To reach this mountain shelter

Where a few words
Suddenly discovered
Exceed the poetic realm

In a holy sutra
Inscribed in stone

The spirit’s music is performed
In the half empty mountain air

Composed In Western Paradise

Lan Hua is a writer and translator based in New York.  His translations of Chinese poetry are available online at www.tangspirit.net  and his own poetry is available online at  lampoetry.blogspot.com