登柳州城楼寄漳、汀、封、连四州刺史
From the City-tower of Liuzhou to my Four Fellow-officials at Zhang, Ding, Feng, and Lian Districts

Poet: Liu Zongyuan
登柳州城楼寄漳、汀、封、连四州刺史
登柳州城楼寄漳、汀、封、连四州刺史
  At this lofty tower where the town ends, wilderness begins;
  And our longing has as far to go as the ocean or the sky....
  Hibiscus-flowers by the moat heave in a sudden wind,
  And vines along the wall are whipped with slanting rain.
  Nothing to see for three hundred miles but a blur of woods and mountain –
  And the river's nine loops, twisting in our bowels....
  This is where they have sent us, this land of tattooed people –
  And not even letters, to keep us in touch with home.