Things to think about

These are translations from chinese and have long been favourites of mine.

The Red Cockatoo

Sent as a present from Annam
A red cockatoo.
Coloured like the peach-tree blossom,
Speaking with the speech of men.
And they did to it what is always done
To the learned and eloquent.
They took a cage with stout bars
And shut it up inside.

-- Po Chü-i

Lao-tzü

Po Chü-i impishly taunts one of the most influential of all Chinese philosophers in this poem.

"Those who speak know nothing
Those who know are silent."
These words, as I am told,
Were spoken by Lao-tzü.
If we are to believe that Lao-tzü
Was himself one who knew,
How comes it that he wrote a book
Of five thousand words?