Dusk

From Still Life, Three Worlds by Dai Pan (潘岱). Poem 01.

Like tiny fine droplets,
The breeze lifts delicate gauze at bedside,
A blue light enters, tinged with pink and orange hues.

Through the translucent linen weave,
Etching patterns of shadow across wooden floors.

From the grass, a white-speckled cat,
Tongue stretched out, black eyes.
Shimmering with veins of green,
The only color that remains.
Among grasses, trees and parks,
Wrapped in azure shadows after sunset.
In that fleeting moment,
More than regret could ever capture.
The cat grooms its dappled coat,
Lingering in the invisible orange glow, there,
Before another daybreak arrives here.

Cite as: Dai Pan, "Dusk," Three Worlds, Still Life, poem 01, 2025. https://daipan.ink/still-life/dusk

Still Life 01

Dusk

Like tiny fine droplets,
The breeze lifts delicate gauze at bedside,
A blue light enters, // tinged with pink and orange hues.

Through the translucent linen weave,
Etching patterns of shadow across wooden floors.

From the grass, a white-speckled cat,
Tongue stretched out, black eyes.
Shimmering with veins of green,
The only color that remains.
Among grasses, trees and parks,
Wrapped in azure shadows after sunset.
In that fleeting moment,
More than regret could ever capture.
The cat grooms its dappled coat,
Lingering in the invisible orange glow, // there,
Before another daybreak arrives here.