Against Love

by Brett Rutherford

     Adapted from Alcaeus of Messene.
         The Greek Anthology, v, 10

I hate the love-god,
I really do.

Animals need none
of his interruptions
and do what they do
in time and season.

Why shoot at me
with those piercing arrows
when I am empty-pocketed
and all the streets are drenched
with rain and clotted mud?
I make a sorry sight
courting, all limp and soggy.

Must I go out
blind-folded now
so that my sight
of any bright-eyed
person does not
concur with the fall
of some random arrow?

What profits it to him
to burn so many mortal hearts?
Does Love have a quota to fill?
Or does he pursue me
with a particular relish
so I will write a poem
that will win some prize,
and, named in it,
the little god smirks.

Epigram

 by Brett Rutherford

The being who lives
behind the stars
hates only one thing:
stupidity.

The Engineer

by Brett Rutherford

1

Returning to that world
the Engineer found
all things a mess.
The fittest had not
survived and prospered.

Rather, the creeping things
had prevailed.

 

2
Where was it,
that Beautiful One?
No matter: all went
into the crucible.

He lit a match.
Warming the planet
sped up the process.

 

3

Too bad about the cats.
Most places, they
were the ones worth keeping.

He wondered
if there was a any painless way
to be eaten, as if the indignity
of being devoured
by vermin were not enough.

 

4

When all was poured
onto a great platter,
out of all those millions
only one species remained.

Teeth like piranha,
an ovoid fish
striped many-hued
like a bright coleus.

Lonely, untouched,
untouchable,
it would be lord of the lake
ringed by the skeletons
of those it had devoured.

 

5

Too late it was
when he returned.

The Perfect One
having awaited
patiently,
was dead.

Meng-Tse's Epigrams for a New Years Banquet

1
Futility is when the Horse
goes to the Chicken
for flying lessons.

徒勞。馬向雞請教飛行課程

2
Lamb is the meal
that runs down the hill
to greet you.

yángròu shìnà dàocài yánzhe shānpō pǎo xiàlái xiàngnǐ wènhòu。

羊肉是那道菜
沿著山坡跑下來
向你問候。

3
Without the bean
there would be no Buddhas.

méiyǒu dòuzi ，jiù沒yǒufótuó。

沒有豆子，就沒有佛陀。

4
The dumpling-full man
is a magnet for money.

mǎnshì jiǎozi derén cáiyùnhēngtōng。

滿是餃子的人財運亨通。

5
One net uncast
is a hundred fish uncaught.

bù sāwǎng ， bǔ búdào bǎi yú

不撒網，捕不到百魚

6
The Shrimp
is neither fish nor fowl:
a sleeping dragon.

há bù shìyú。 há bù shìniǎo。 há shì yìtiáo chénshuì de lóng。

蝦不是魚。蝦不是鳥。蝦是一條沉睡的龍。

7
Chili! Chili!
Who said a hen
could never make you cry?

làjiāo！ làjiāo！ shuíshuō mǔjī yǒngyuǎnbúhuì ràngnǐ liúlèi？

辣椒！辣椒！
誰說母雞
永遠不會讓你流淚？

8
First taste of Beijing Duck
divides your life
into two chapters.

dìyī cìpǐn cháng běijīngkǎoyā ， jiāngnǐ de rénshēng fēnchéng le liǎnggè piānzhāng。

第一次品嚐北京烤鴨，將你的人生分成了兩個篇章。

9
A whole new world
begins in broth.

yígè quán xīndeshìjiè cóng tāngdǐ kāishǐ。

一個全新的世界
從湯底開始。