Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE POEMS OF COLD MOUNTAIN: 19 by HAN SHAN

First Line: PARROTS LIVE IN WESTERN LANDS
Last Line: FLYING UP IN THE CLOUDS
Subject(s): CHINESE LITERATURE; PARROTS; PRISONS & PRISONERS; CONVICTS;

Parrots live in western lands
hunters bring them back in nets
courtesans tease them dawn to dusk
somewhere behind palace curtains
they're given a golden cage
but locked away their plumage fades
not like wild geese and swans
flying up in the clouds



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