An Iranian professor I know asked me - Mimi Khalvati

An Iranian professor I know asked me
   the first time we met, as he’d asked so many
students: Saheb-del – how would you say in English
   Saheb-del, can you translate it? And each time
he pronounced the words his fingers tolled the air
   like a bell, a benediction. Years have passed.

Seeking but Not Finding the Recluse - Jia Dao

Under pines
I ask the boy;
he says: "My master's gone
to gather herbs.

Longing for Spring - Walter von der Vogelweide

Alas, the winter has hurt us everywhere.
The forest and the heath are both so bare,
Where many a sweet voice resounded through the air.

Patchwork - Eavan Boland

I have been thinking at random
on the universe
or rather, how nothing in the universe
is random —

Consolation Grook - Piet Hein

Losing one glove
is certainly painful,

You do not need many things - Taigu Ryokan

My house is buried in the deepest recess of the forest
Every year, ivy vines grow longer than the year before.

A psychological moment - Piet Hein

Whenever you’re called to make up your mind,
and you’re hampered by not having any,
the best way to solve the dilemma, you’ll find,
is simply by spinning a penny.

Snow - Janet Frame

A crime so frequent, so huge
of fraud and camouflage

Young poets - Nicanor Parra

Write as you will
In whatever style you like

The New Year - Rabindranath Tagore

Like fruit, shaken free by an impatient wind
from the veils of its mother flower,
thou comest, New Year, whirling in a frantic dance