The Tao Te Ching

9.

If you drink too much, you get drunk.
The engine won't start
if you're always tinkering with it.

If you hoard wealth,
you fall into its clutches.
If you crave success,
you succumb to failure.

Do what you have to do,
then walk away.
Anything else will drive you nuts.

The Tao Te Ching
a modern interpretation of Lao Tzu

Adornments

I will slip a rice stalk on your wrist
a jade bracelet sounds of crickets a leave of grass
a flame of skin and flesh
drowned in a pair of pinkish nipples

I will drape around your neck
the mysterious necklace of night

the clear bells of autumn
tremble as the city flies back towards the sky

I will drape on your chest

a tempest

Linh Dinh translates Thanh Thao