My Boat Swings Out and Back
My boat swings out and back,
Moored among mint and rush.
The river’s ruffled speed
Laughs in the white wind’s track.
My idle fingers crush
A crinkled, scented reed.
Who needs his fate provoke?
A spirit in all things flows,
And I with them flow too,
Content to eye long boughs
Of silvering willow stroke
Slowly the summer blue.
