"Questions" [shi]

What we pass through none can say   not even ourselves
this is the world   what is the world?   questions

we might've been bugs or trees or stars or elves
we might have become religious like the Christians

the paintings that fill the walls astonish our eyes
there's something heroic and something pathetic   do we

endure obdurate conditions all of our lives?
and do we ever arrive at answers truly?



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After an hour at the National Portrait Gallery / American Art Museum, sitting on the terrace with a double espresso

The exhibition of The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competiiton (51 contemporary portraits -- paintings and some sculpture) impressed me. I liked, for instance, Yugi Wang's From Fed Hook (image below).

The integration of the two museums-into-one is wonderful. This was my first visit. The museums had been closed for renovation for a long time, and finally re-opened a couple months ago. Really one of my best museum-going experiences. The outdoor cafe terrace is adjacent the Portrait Competition exhibit (on the 3rd floor).

Seventh in a series entitled Chinese poems, late summer.
The ealier poems:
no. 1:   Rooftop Scene
no. 2:   "The basic problem"
no. 3:   Night Sounds
no. 4:   "The invitation"
no. 5:   "Do you know the way?"
no. 6:   Ancient Future



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