Hedgehog

He ambles along like a walking pin cushion,
Stops and curls up lie a chestnut burr.
He's not worried because he's so little.
Nobody is going to slap him around.


Translated from the Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth


"Hedgehog" by Chu Chen Po (ninth century), translated by Kenneth Rexroth, from 100 More Poems from the Chinese.
Copyright © 1970 by Kenneth Rexroth. Reprinted with the permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation