Homeless Dogs

Here we languish, a bunch of poor scholars,
Battered by extremes of hunger and cold.
Out of work, our only joy is poetry:
Scribble, scribble, we wear out our brains.
Who will read the works of such men?
On that point you can save your sighs.
We could inscribe our poems on biscuits
And homeless dogs wouldn't deign to nibble.

~ Han Shan, Cold Mountain (translated by Burton Watson)

30-minute film about Han Shan
-- a documentary by Mike Hazard,
featuring translators Gary Snyder and Red Pine
.