Forest Stream by Ruisdael, Metropolitan Museum of Art, by Robert Dorsett

The Forest Stream, by Jacob Van Ruisdael (Netherlands) 1660

Forest Stream by Ruisdael, Metropolitan Museum of Art
​
Dawn or evening, youth or age,
caught in a struggle between
sunlight and shadow. A streamlet
pours toward you, drops into
a stone basin the future known only
to an inscrutable God. Water and
stone abrade into mist or dust.
​Clouds emanate light, stones an
inward glow. On the steam’s surface,
scintillating foam. You stand in
a shadow cast by an invisible sun. Your
eyes move from cloud to earth,
earth to water. Everything’s charged
with a fire burning four elements.
Clouds, trees, mingle and part like flames.
Time past, future, balance upon
the point of one moment. A figure
stands in the distance also caught up
in the grand drama. You recognize
your younger self. Realize you stand
on the threshold of your passing.

Robert Dorsett

Robert Dorsett is a retired pediatrician living in Berkeley. He studied Chinese at the Chinese University of Hong Kong during the Mao years, and was a naval officer during the Viet Nam War. His latest book of translations, the Selected Poems of Ai Qing, with book design and preface by Ai Weiwei, was published by Crown in 2021 and subsequently as a Viking Classic with distribution throughout Europe and Asia.