An Invitation

I climb the road to Cold Mountain,
T
he road to Cold Mountain
that never ends.
The valleys are long and strewn
with stones,
The streams broad
and banked with thick grass.
Moss is slippery, though no
rain has fallen;
Pines sigh,
but it isn’t the wind.
Who can break
from the snares of the world
and sit wth me
among the white clouds?

Han-shan
(T’ang dynasty 618-906)