Chinese poems in translation
Two bamboo stalks pierce the clouds
A few new leaves spilling over the top.
Since the stalks grow out of the same root,
Neither higher, neither lower than the other.
I’ve drawn bamboo forty years now,
Drawing in the daytime, thinking at night.
To reach perfection, leave out unneeded brushstrokes.
A sign of mastery is that you begin practicing again.
Poem by Zheng Banqiao
Translated from the Chinese by Alfred Corn and Joanne Wang