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3,000 Years of Chinese Poetry by Charles Bassi Today I went to the used book store And got an unbelievable bargain - 3,000 years of Chinese Poetry, 847 pages, For $2.75. That's more than three pages of Chinese poetry For every penny spent, More than one hundred years of Chinese poetry For every dime spent. In the bookstore I flip through the pages. Some of them are wrinkled. A musty odor rises. A tiny dead spider is pressed in the middle of the book. Who knows how long he's been there, Neglected, trapped between ancient dynasties? I let him fall to the floor. Then I peruse, The ghosts of Asia speak to me: So many delicate images, so many delineations of the heart, So may analects of emotion, So much subtlety of technique - In fact, so much emotion Revealed so subtly, indirectly, Across such a range of situations, of ages - 3,000 years! And at such a reasonable price! My God! It's overwhelming! Am I the luckiest person ever? Why did no other customer snap this up? I look through the window of the bookstore out into the street - People walk by, oblivious Philistines. So - I spent my lunch money on Chinese Poetry. So what? Food isnŠt everything. Though, actually, some food would be nice - something befitting this occasion - perhaps some Americanization of a Chinese dish would be appropriate - Chow Mien with crispy fried noodles, For example - To commemorate this clash of cultures, the moment when my American eyes my European eyes try to assimilate and comprehend so much emotion revealed so subtly, indirectly, through imagery, across such a range of situations, of ages - Actually, IŠm getting hungry but my lunch money is gone, because I just spent it on 3,000 years of Chinese Poetry. |
