Attentive Ears

(for a distant erhu)

Twigs fallen snapped (Photo: Faye Sarras)

In symphonic fantasy
have I wandered
Twigs fallen snapped
within my dreams.
No price for silken tunes
my empty can purse pay.
But attentive ears for a thousand li
or just for a thousand years.

Wei Santang is a scholar born and educated in the Far West in the second half of the 20th century. Faye Sarras teaches English and records the activities of plants from the mountains to the garden to the kitchen. Faye and Santang are the authors of In Solar Terms. The forthcoming books are: Temples of the Heart in Anqing and Porto (with He Ying); On Mushrooms and Mountains (with Faye Sarras). Read other articles by Wei.