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The Cold Lantern

by Yang Wan-Li

Yang Wanli

Old and young, everyone's asleep.
The cold lantern, flickering at midnight,
is my only companion.
The two flowers I've been looking at become dragonfly eyes;
the single flame, a jade vase hanging in the air.




Quotes of the Day

A poet needs to keep his wilderness alive inside him. To remain a poet after forty requires an awareness of your darkest Africa, that part of yourself that will never be tamed.

• Stanley Kunitz



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