“Guard the Jade Pass”

i.
I am in the middle of “The Fourteen Poems” by Sun Bu-er (“Clear and Calm Free Human”), Taoist and one of the Seven Immortal Sisters who took up the Tao after she turned fifty-one, after her three children grew up, after her husband attained enlightenment—highly approved by The Complete Reality School. She was born in 1124. Commentary by Chen Yingning of the twelfth century. Translated by Thomas Clearly. Copyright 1989. The Chinese is not included.

ii.
Some of the titles:
Gathering the Mind
Nurturing Energy
Cutting Off the Dragon
The Womb Breath
Facing a Wall

iii.
Imagine words with a dimension
not unlike the light and dark regions
of the moon. The back of planets. The crators.
Words that orbit the body
like a plea granted.

iv.
I am in the middle of—
what do you call this pass?

v.
When I am unblocked,
not in the midst of students and professors,
I walk around light-headed
as if there is too much oxygen
in the air.
Who needs sleep or water—

vi.
in the middle of—

vii.
The secret texts may reveal how to really be alive. Those by Sun Bu-er are said to have been handed on by revered Taoist; one of whom was known as the “Realized One of Mount Heng.”

viii.
I keep a cigar box
on my bureau and fill it with objects
befitting a private altar:
coins, feather, thread.
An empty envelope when you forget
to enclose the letter.

Kimiko Hahn, “Guard the Jade Pass” from Mosquito and Ant: Poems. Copyright © 1999 by Kimiko Hahn. Reprinted by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc..

Source: Mosquito and Ant: Poems (W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1999)