my thought is like the stream

I am a peach tree blossoming in a deep pit. 

Who is there I may turn to and smile? 

You are the moon up in the far sky; 

Passing, you looked down on me an hour; then went on forever. 

 

A sword with the keenest edge, 

Could not cut the stream of water in twain 

So that it would cease to flow. 

My thought is like the stream; and flows and follows you on forever. 

 

[Li Po, 'I am a peach tree' {trans. Shigeyoshi Obata}, from Eat, Drink, and be Merry: Poems about food and drink from Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets]