Impermanence

Sadder the early death of Schubert

Than Du Fu’s troupe of dancing girls!*

Done his work, Eighth symphony unfinished.

Perhaps it did not like to stay?

And they were vapid things, no doubt—

Their painted cheeks give them away

("now yellow dust," needless to say).

Poets delight in impermanence

In their melancholic way,

I, in the pears ripened to perfection

In the fruit drawer of my fridge.

I’ll eat another one today!

*Du Fu, 712-70 CE, “Jade Flower Palace,” translated from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth

Halloween 2026