A Red Boat On The Lake Poem by William He

A Red Boat on the Lake
By William He

A curtain of mist skims the town's black roof,
A lone spire bows in the cloud's soft grip,
Ten hundred drops spar on the lake's wide face.
Pines twist on the warped face of a clock,
Gnawing slow at the joints of time.
Bit by bit,
Words flake from the skin of old coins,
Ash rests deep in cracked old teeth,
Water sprites curl in a shell of glaze.
They move as one,
Hands rake at the vault of sky,
Clutching mist until it cries out.

Rust-red hulls slice the surface,
Sometimes the water grows turbid,
A vast chasm now—a whirlpool boils.
Belching its sand into Styx,
Descending into total perdition,
The dark matter cracks—just for a while.
Tonight, the tide shifts its soft gray breath,
A star is falling,
Through shrines sunk in the depths of the past.
Grief, sharp as the curve of a bent moon,
Lotus mouths breathe out fire, one by one.

扬州慢 南湖红船
作者：何威廉

游舫栖寻，
塔身斜卧，
浪平悄积沙痕。
正鱼群结阵，
啃碎旧时辰。
漫销尽、
青铜竹简，
燧人余烬，
盘跃红鳞。
共浮游、
伸手掏空，
抓痛流云。

瀛洲烟雨，
泛鸳鸯，
一水横分。
念腐草微萤，
铭文瘗鹤，
暗物初皴。
是夜潮纹重组，
流星入、
低矮碑文。
怅似镰残月，
藕花绽裂新晨。