Poem
Ruth Padel
THE FOREST, THE CORRUPT OFFICIAL AND A BOWL OF PENIS SOUP
THE FOREST, THE CORRUPT OFFICIAL AND A BOWL OF PENIS SOUP
THE FOREST, THE CORRUPT OFFICIAL AND A BOWL OF PENIS SOUP
How can I paint Winter Landscape with Templesand Travellers, or Five-Colour Parakeet
on Blossoming Apricot Tree?
The oracle boxes are empty
and the Minister with a Brief for Charming Explanation
has signed a licence (to the army) for the forest to be cut,
ordered satin linings to his red kimono
and is drinking with the General
in what he says is the best restaurant in town,
attended by two fifteen-year-old girls:
handpicked, translucent brown jade.
Black tree stumps cool on the mountain,
sawmills slide out planks a hundred an hour
and white ash blooms over the river
while the courtier treats the General
to tiger penis soup, five hundred linu a bowl.
I\'ll paint the bare burnt mamillated plain,
Flame of the Forest in its white and scarlet,
jack fruits and jacaranda, the stag in the sky
and the naming of stars, the three definitions of twilight
in Yunnan province where white-handed gibbons
used to sing their love duets.
I\'ll paint the truth of illusion, a glossary
of atmospheric optics,
and Guanyin, Guardian of Compassion.
I\'ll pay particular attention to her smile.
© 2004, Ruth Padel
From: The Soho Leopard
Publisher: Chatto & Windus, London
From: The Soho Leopard
Publisher: Chatto & Windus, London
Ruth Padel
(United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1947)
“Ruth Padel combines two major gifts. She is a distinguished poet and a quite exceptional reader of the poetry of others, with a delightful skill in explanation and the instinct of a caring, clearsighted guide to how poetry works and why it matters.”
(George Steiner)
Amongst her many plaudits, Ruth Padel was the winner of the Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition in 1996. She was Chair of ...
(George Steiner)
Amongst her many plaudits, Ruth Padel was the winner of the Poetry Society’s National Poetry Competition in 1996. She was Chair of ...
Poems
Poems of Ruth Padel
Close
THE FOREST, THE CORRUPT OFFICIAL AND A BOWL OF PENIS SOUP
How can I paint Winter Landscape with Templesand Travellers, or Five-Colour Parakeet
on Blossoming Apricot Tree?
The oracle boxes are empty
and the Minister with a Brief for Charming Explanation
has signed a licence (to the army) for the forest to be cut,
ordered satin linings to his red kimono
and is drinking with the General
in what he says is the best restaurant in town,
attended by two fifteen-year-old girls:
handpicked, translucent brown jade.
Black tree stumps cool on the mountain,
sawmills slide out planks a hundred an hour
and white ash blooms over the river
while the courtier treats the General
to tiger penis soup, five hundred linu a bowl.
I\'ll paint the bare burnt mamillated plain,
Flame of the Forest in its white and scarlet,
jack fruits and jacaranda, the stag in the sky
and the naming of stars, the three definitions of twilight
in Yunnan province where white-handed gibbons
used to sing their love duets.
I\'ll paint the truth of illusion, a glossary
of atmospheric optics,
and Guanyin, Guardian of Compassion.
I\'ll pay particular attention to her smile.
From: The Soho Leopard
THE FOREST, THE CORRUPT OFFICIAL AND A BOWL OF PENIS SOUP
Sponsors
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère