Exact
by Rae Armantrout

Quick, before you die,
describe

the exact shade
of this hotel carpet.

What is the meaning
of the irregular, yellow

spheres, some
hollow,

gathered in patches
on this bedspread?

If you love me,
worship

the objects
I have caused

to represent me
in my absence.

     *

Over and over
tiers

of houses spill
pleasantly

down that hillside.
It

might be possible
to count occurrences.

獨坐敬亭山
李白

眾鳥高飛盡
孤雲獨去閑
相看兩不厭
只有敬亭山

Zazen on Ching-t’ing Mountain
by Li Po
Translated by Sam Hamill

The birds have vanished down the sky. 
Now the last cloud drains away. 

We sit together, the mountain and me, 
until only the mountain remains.