Thinking of Li Po at Sky’s End (after Tu Fu)
Cold wind rises at the sky’s end.
What does he consider?
And when will the geese arrive?
The rivers and lakes are full this autumn
but poets’ fates are seldom pleasant.
Demons love to see us fail.
Let’s think of dead Ch’u Yuan
and offer poems to the river.
The transliteration on Chinesepoems.com reads:
Thinking of Li Po at the End of the Sky
Cold wind rise sky end
Gentleman thought resemble what?
Goose what time come?
River lake autumn water much
Literature hate fate eminent
Demons happy people failure
Respond together wronged person language
Throw poems give Miluo
According to the notes at Chinesepoems.com, the wild goose is a symbol of autumn, letters and travellers in difficulties. The wronged person is Qu Yuan, a poet of the fourth century BC who drowned himself in the Miluo river – another exiled poet later threw some verses into the river as an offering to him.
O at the Edges 
I’m liking this project of yours, making something new but not quite brand new. Seeing the originals gives us even more to think about, because we can’t help but wonder how we’d do it. Thanks for these.
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You’re very welcome. I haven’t attempted one of these in quite some time, but may have to revisit a few old poems to give it a whirl.
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Do you suppose that “sky end” is the base of a mountain, or even its peak? If it’s at the peak (or somewhere high on the slope), looking out over the rivers and lakes while watching for geese could bring thoughts of those who don’t return.
But then, if it’s at the base, it’s easy to think of the writer being on that riverbank making an offering while watching the sky.
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It could be. In my view, it’s open to interpretation (lol), and might mean horizon, or that invisible line where sky begins or ends.
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Sky’s end puts me in mind of flat earth. (K)
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That’s much easier to visualize.
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Sky’s end caught my eye as well … a puzzle … since the sky is continuous wrapped about our planet. But poetically, horizons appear as sky’s end. Were Li Po and Qu Yuan into planetary perspectives? Guessing they were more oriented to panoramas within view. Though sky’s end perhaps metaphor for human death? Sad story behind all this. (Your version certainly easier to follow than the original!)
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There are certainly multiple layers to those words. The original characters would offer much to one who could read them.
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