Yang Wan Li was a Chinese official and Zen Buddhist in the 12th century. It’s said he wrote over 20,000 poems (of which, around 4000 survive). This poem was written in Hangzhou, a city I used to live in many moons ago and have many fond memories of.

(Note on translating: Most old Chinese poems don’t have standard translations, so there is no ‘fixed’ version in English)

Seeing off Lin Zi Fang from Jingci Temple at Dawn

At last, the West Lake in June

Its grand, incomparable view

Leaves reach skyward, their endless green

Lotus reflect different shades of red