Fox sleep. A poem by WS Merwin.

A beautiful poem by one of my favourite poets. It references the the second zen koan in The Gateless Gate collection known as “Pai-chang’s fox“. On a road through the mountains with a friend many years agoI came to a curve on a slope where a clear streamflowed down flashing across dark rocks through its ownechoes that could neither be caught nor forgottenit was the turning of autumn and alreadythe mornings were cold with ragged clouds in the hollowslong after sunrise but the pasture sagging like a roofthe glassy water and flickering yellow leavesin the few poplars and knotted plum trees were held upin a handful of sunlight that made the slates on the silentmill by the stream glisten white above their ruinand a few relics of the life before had been arrangedin front of the open mill house to waitpale in the daylight out on the open mountainafter whatever they had been made for was overthe dew was drying on them and there were few who took that roadwho might buy one of them and take it…