Bonsai by Tom Sharp

I have four bonsai pine trees that have been put in my care. The last time I moved them, they were three feet tall and now they are as tall as I am. They are stressed like pine trees in the mountains. Like people in my village, their limbs are sparse and they grow slowly. Thieves search my cottage and they don’t want pine trees. I hide in the woods until they’re gone, and the time I’m away there’s nobody to mind them. The bonsai have so few roots, it’s hard to keep them in balance. I, too, was born without roots so I understand. I appreciate the hard times as well as the easy ones.

四松 by 杜甫 (Du Fu)

四松初移时，大抵三尺强。别来忽三载，离立如人长。会看根不拔，莫计枝凋伤。幽色幸秀发，疏柯亦昂藏。所插小藩篱，本亦有堤防。终然掁拨损，得吝千叶黄。敢为故林主，黎庶犹未康。避贼今始归，春草满空堂。览物叹衰谢，及兹慰凄凉。清风为我起，洒面若微霜。足以送老姿，聊待偃盖张。我生无根带，配尔亦茫茫。有情且赋诗，事迹可两忘。勿矜千载后，惨澹蟠穹苍。