April 10, 2021: Impatience

Impatience
 
I want it now; I don’t want to wait.
I’ll never have time if I go at this rate.
I need to fill my heart’s desire!
I want to run and never tire;
To excel to a rate that will leave me behind!
Then stop to transform the whole of mankind.
I think I can do it.  There must be a way!
But there can’t be a cost, ‘cause I don’t want to pay.
I want it now;  I don’t want to wait!
Serve up my dinner on a dirty plate!

April 10, 2021: Regret by Yuan Chi, in "Chinese Poems translated by Arthur Waley, Page 73.

 Regret

When I was young I learnt fencing
And was better at it than Ch'u-ch'eng (famous swordsman).
My spirit was high as the rolling clouds
And my fame resounded beyond the World.
I took my sword to the desert sands,
I watered my horse in the Nine Wilds,
My flags and banners flapped in the wind,
And nothing was heard but the song of my drums.

War and its travels have made me sad,
And a fierce anger burns within me.
It's thinking of how I've wasted my time
That makes this fury tear my heart.