2 De Dao Jing || rendered by Douglas Allchin
 

 

 

73
 

Who dares and fears not, encounters death.
Who fears and dares not, is bound with life.
In each a deficit, in each an asset.

What heaven decries,
who knows why?

The Way of heaven
contends not yet conquers well,
speaks not yet evokes response,
summons not yet draws all near,
bustles not yet meets its purpose.

Heaven casts
a net that's vast,
and though its mesh is far from fine,
nothing is ever left behind.

© Douglas Allchin 2002