DWELLING BY A STREAM
It’s been a long time dressing for the office
Lucky to be banished to the southern wild
Idle among the planters and gardeners
Accidental guest of the hills and woods
The dewy grass ploughed at dawn
At twilight the sounds of the stony brook
Coming and going, meeting no one
A clear constant song in the jade green air
溪居
久为簪组束，
幸此南夷谪。
闲依农圃邻，
偶似山林客。
晓耕翻露草，
夜榜响溪石。
来往不逢人，
长歌楚天碧。
W. H. Chong paints and writes, and is the design director of Text Publishing. His 2023 book
Portraits collected 300 of his pictures, and his painting of Michelle de Kretser is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. You can find his work on Instagram @w.h.chong
Liǔ Zōngyuán 柳宗元 (773—819 CE) was a middle period Tang poet and politician, and an innovative writer. He promoted the simplicity and directness of ancient Chinese prose, a move towards authenticity considered a hallmark of Tang poetry. He was exiled from the imperial government in 805. His poetry is thought to be deep and melancholic, often reflecting on exile and isolation.
