Alone And Drinking Under The Moon Amongst the flowers
I am alone with my pot of wine drinking by myself;
then lifting my cup I asked the moon to drink with me,
its reflection and mine in the wine cup, just the three of us;
then I sigh for the moon cannot drink,
and my shadow goes emptily along with me never saying a word;
with no other friends here, I can but use these two for company;
in the time of happiness, I too must be happy with all around me;
I sit and sing and it is as if the moon accompanies me;
then if I dance, it is my shadow that dances along with me;
while still not drunk, I am glad to make the moon and my shadow into friends,
but then when I have drunk too much, we all part;
yet these are friends I can always count on these who have no emotion whatsoever;
I hope that one day we three will meet again, deep in the Milky Way.
A poem by Li Po.
