Response

In yesterday's post, I shared two poems about the anxiety a wife might feel waiting for the return of a husband. Tonight, let me share with you what perhaps might be on the mind of the husband during time apart.

When Will I Be Home?

Li Shang-Yin (813?-858)

Trans. Kenneth Rexroth

When will I be home? I don't know. 

In the mountains, in the rainy night,

The Autumn lake is flooded. 

Someday we will be back together again.

We will sit in the candlelight by the West window. 

And I will tell you how I remembered you 

Tonight on the stormy mountain.

And one more, along the same lines, this time translated from Sanskrit.

My Husband before Leaving
Anonymous
Trans. J Moussaieff Masson and W.S. Merwin

My husband
before leaving on a journey
is still in the house speaking
to the gods and already
separation is climbing like
bad monkeys to the windows.

Both poems were found, again, in Enduring Ties, edited by Grant Hardy. I love the way these poems show emotion without spelling it out. It's beautiful.