THE SAGES OF THE BAMBOO GROVE

Ruan Ji was

drunk for two months

and wandered unwashed

among the hills and the streams;

Ji Kang, unbending,

didn't spare brave words

and played his zither.

But they both died:

The man who
became drunk

and the man who

stayed sober
- the same year
saw them dead.

06.05.2019-01.06.2022

Ruan Ji(210-263) and Ji Kang(223-262) were Chinese poets, members of the group known as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. The latter was executed.

#Poem #Poems #Poetry #Verse