@kimdorman.bsky.social
American poet residing in India / Corbel Stone Press
(on Shivaratri)
Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,
things standing shall fall,
but the moving ever shall stay.
-Basavaņņa
(tr. A. K. Ramanujan)
Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,
things standing shall fall,
but the moving ever shall stay.
-Basavaņņa
(tr. A. K. Ramanujan)
February 15, 2026 at 2:15 AM
(on Shivaratri)
Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,
things standing shall fall,
but the moving ever shall stay.
-Basavaņņa
(tr. A. K. Ramanujan)
Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,
things standing shall fall,
but the moving ever shall stay.
-Basavaņņa
(tr. A. K. Ramanujan)
Gorge narrowing, gorge opening up again
Green water crashing, white water leaping
Arms or hearts, which is the more violent
I cannot say.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
Green water crashing, white water leaping
Arms or hearts, which is the more violent
I cannot say.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
February 15, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Gorge narrowing, gorge opening up again
Green water crashing, white water leaping
Arms or hearts, which is the more violent
I cannot say.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
Green water crashing, white water leaping
Arms or hearts, which is the more violent
I cannot say.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
I go out into the world
I am the world
I am nations, cities, people
I am the pages of an unbound book
My room is the air around me
-Arvind Krishna Mehrotra,
from “Songs of the Ganga”
I am the world
I am nations, cities, people
I am the pages of an unbound book
My room is the air around me
-Arvind Krishna Mehrotra,
from “Songs of the Ganga”
February 15, 2026 at 1:40 AM
I go out into the world
I am the world
I am nations, cities, people
I am the pages of an unbound book
My room is the air around me
-Arvind Krishna Mehrotra,
from “Songs of the Ganga”
I am the world
I am nations, cities, people
I am the pages of an unbound book
My room is the air around me
-Arvind Krishna Mehrotra,
from “Songs of the Ganga”
I walk into the room and turn on the light:
house lizards scuttle away.
house lizards scuttle away.
February 14, 2026 at 12:56 PM
I walk into the room and turn on the light:
house lizards scuttle away.
house lizards scuttle away.
February 14, 2026 at 12:23 PM
I am the bridge
I am the fort and the archer
Taking aim
I am the great dissolver of men
I give life and I take it back
-Arvind Krishna Mehrotra,
from “Songs of the Ganga”
I am the fort and the archer
Taking aim
I am the great dissolver of men
I give life and I take it back
-Arvind Krishna Mehrotra,
from “Songs of the Ganga”
February 14, 2026 at 7:31 AM
I am the bridge
I am the fort and the archer
Taking aim
I am the great dissolver of men
I give life and I take it back
-Arvind Krishna Mehrotra,
from “Songs of the Ganga”
I am the fort and the archer
Taking aim
I am the great dissolver of men
I give life and I take it back
-Arvind Krishna Mehrotra,
from “Songs of the Ganga”
(notes)
After two days and nights in hospital
The bright streets
The fields behind stalls and shops
The wide rivers
Crows on the rooftops of office buildings
Egrets on the backs of cows
Clouds changing colors
Buses full of children
Men squatting beside buckets of eels
Dogs asleep in shade
After two days and nights in hospital
The bright streets
The fields behind stalls and shops
The wide rivers
Crows on the rooftops of office buildings
Egrets on the backs of cows
Clouds changing colors
Buses full of children
Men squatting beside buckets of eels
Dogs asleep in shade
February 14, 2026 at 5:51 AM
(notes)
After two days and nights in hospital
The bright streets
The fields behind stalls and shops
The wide rivers
Crows on the rooftops of office buildings
Egrets on the backs of cows
Clouds changing colors
Buses full of children
Men squatting beside buckets of eels
Dogs asleep in shade
After two days and nights in hospital
The bright streets
The fields behind stalls and shops
The wide rivers
Crows on the rooftops of office buildings
Egrets on the backs of cows
Clouds changing colors
Buses full of children
Men squatting beside buckets of eels
Dogs asleep in shade
from “Teleg Song”
Teleg River
Lies under the Dark Mountains,
Where the sky is like the sides of a tent
Stretched down over the Great Steppe.
-Anon., 6th century A.D.
(tr. Arthur Waley)
Teleg River
Lies under the Dark Mountains,
Where the sky is like the sides of a tent
Stretched down over the Great Steppe.
-Anon., 6th century A.D.
(tr. Arthur Waley)
February 14, 2026 at 5:44 AM
from “Teleg Song”
Teleg River
Lies under the Dark Mountains,
Where the sky is like the sides of a tent
Stretched down over the Great Steppe.
-Anon., 6th century A.D.
(tr. Arthur Waley)
Teleg River
Lies under the Dark Mountains,
Where the sky is like the sides of a tent
Stretched down over the Great Steppe.
-Anon., 6th century A.D.
(tr. Arthur Waley)
Tread as on thin ice, muffle the heartbeat
With luck we'll clear the passage
Painted bright, face to face
Awe and dread guard house and temple gate.
-Karin Lessing,
from "Yunnan Sketches"
With luck we'll clear the passage
Painted bright, face to face
Awe and dread guard house and temple gate.
-Karin Lessing,
from "Yunnan Sketches"
February 14, 2026 at 1:58 AM
Tread as on thin ice, muffle the heartbeat
With luck we'll clear the passage
Painted bright, face to face
Awe and dread guard house and temple gate.
-Karin Lessing,
from "Yunnan Sketches"
With luck we'll clear the passage
Painted bright, face to face
Awe and dread guard house and temple gate.
-Karin Lessing,
from "Yunnan Sketches"
Mary Barnard,
known for her translations
of Sappho
known for her translations
of Sappho
February 13, 2026 at 3:57 PM
Mary Barnard,
known for her translations
of Sappho
known for her translations
of Sappho
February 13, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Sand is the beginning and the end
of our dominion.
-Mary Barnard
of our dominion.
-Mary Barnard
February 11, 2026 at 9:46 AM
Sand is the beginning and the end
of our dominion.
-Mary Barnard
of our dominion.
-Mary Barnard
Sheer rock faces closing in, inch-wide the sky
Sudden silence; where did the river go?
Intruding upon a spirit world
We ought to tread as on thin ice.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
Sudden silence; where did the river go?
Intruding upon a spirit world
We ought to tread as on thin ice.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
February 11, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Sheer rock faces closing in, inch-wide the sky
Sudden silence; where did the river go?
Intruding upon a spirit world
We ought to tread as on thin ice.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
Sudden silence; where did the river go?
Intruding upon a spirit world
We ought to tread as on thin ice.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
This is the slender cricket
Saint John used to eat.
May my verses be like it —
And feed the true elite.
-Guillame Apollinaire
(tr. Robert Chandler)
Saint John used to eat.
May my verses be like it —
And feed the true elite.
-Guillame Apollinaire
(tr. Robert Chandler)
February 11, 2026 at 2:40 AM
This is the slender cricket
Saint John used to eat.
May my verses be like it —
And feed the true elite.
-Guillame Apollinaire
(tr. Robert Chandler)
Saint John used to eat.
May my verses be like it —
And feed the true elite.
-Guillame Apollinaire
(tr. Robert Chandler)
books on the table
February 11, 2026 at 1:50 AM
books on the table
I tell you there are rooftops
on which the moon stops
being a cold jewel
And one by one the mountains
begin their descent from
the chambers of a lost book
-John Yau
on which the moon stops
being a cold jewel
And one by one the mountains
begin their descent from
the chambers of a lost book
-John Yau
February 10, 2026 at 9:26 AM
I tell you there are rooftops
on which the moon stops
being a cold jewel
And one by one the mountains
begin their descent from
the chambers of a lost book
-John Yau
on which the moon stops
being a cold jewel
And one by one the mountains
begin their descent from
the chambers of a lost book
-John Yau
(notes / knots)
A well draws water
from earth
and sky.
.
At the furthest edge of thought
I begin.
.
The world begins with the interruption
of a sleep.
-Roberto Calasso, Ka
(tr. Tim Parks)
A well draws water
from earth
and sky.
.
At the furthest edge of thought
I begin.
.
The world begins with the interruption
of a sleep.
-Roberto Calasso, Ka
(tr. Tim Parks)
February 10, 2026 at 9:01 AM
(notes / knots)
A well draws water
from earth
and sky.
.
At the furthest edge of thought
I begin.
.
The world begins with the interruption
of a sleep.
-Roberto Calasso, Ka
(tr. Tim Parks)
A well draws water
from earth
and sky.
.
At the furthest edge of thought
I begin.
.
The world begins with the interruption
of a sleep.
-Roberto Calasso, Ka
(tr. Tim Parks)
To measure life on earth one had to know the relationship between the lotus leaf and the waters. The liquid expanse was the iris, which surrounded the pupil: the flower.
-Roberto Calasso, Ka
(tr. Tim Parks)
-Roberto Calasso, Ka
(tr. Tim Parks)
February 10, 2026 at 8:56 AM
To measure life on earth one had to know the relationship between the lotus leaf and the waters. The liquid expanse was the iris, which surrounded the pupil: the flower.
-Roberto Calasso, Ka
(tr. Tim Parks)
-Roberto Calasso, Ka
(tr. Tim Parks)
Sun rising behind Jade Dragon
Sun setting behind Mount Haba
Deep in the gorge, unobserved
Flinging stones into the rapids below.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
Sun setting behind Mount Haba
Deep in the gorge, unobserved
Flinging stones into the rapids below.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
February 10, 2026 at 1:48 AM
Sun rising behind Jade Dragon
Sun setting behind Mount Haba
Deep in the gorge, unobserved
Flinging stones into the rapids below.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
Sun setting behind Mount Haba
Deep in the gorge, unobserved
Flinging stones into the rapids below.
-Karin Lessing,
from “Yunnan Sketches”
this body
this clot of muscles & blood
skin & nerves
but surely there were other forms
other faces of the dice
-Richard Skelton,
from Stranger in the Mask of a Deer
this clot of muscles & blood
skin & nerves
but surely there were other forms
other faces of the dice
-Richard Skelton,
from Stranger in the Mask of a Deer
February 9, 2026 at 10:08 AM
this body
this clot of muscles & blood
skin & nerves
but surely there were other forms
other faces of the dice
-Richard Skelton,
from Stranger in the Mask of a Deer
this clot of muscles & blood
skin & nerves
but surely there were other forms
other faces of the dice
-Richard Skelton,
from Stranger in the Mask of a Deer
Richard Skelton
February 9, 2026 at 6:40 AM
Richard Skelton