Adagio for Su Tung-p’o by Rob Jacques

Rob Jacques’s poetry collection expands on the metaphysical themes of China’s great 11th Century poet, Su Tung-p’o, interpreting his thoughts on nature, life, love, and death for 21st Century America.

The ancient Chinese poets loved ambiguity, loved paradox, and would have loved the puzzling, reality-defying entanglements that frustrate and fascinate us today. They would have laughed at them, too, while exchanging good wine and poems with each other as they watched the moon rise and be reflected in the hundred rivers flowing through the thousand mountains surrounding them and all the ten thousand things.

“Rob Jacques hears thousand-year-old voices of Chinese poets and responds with new songs and harmonies. His works are beautiful testaments to poetic connection and the contemplation of space, body, and mind.”

— Deng Ming-Dao, author of

365 Tao

Rob resides on a rural island in Washington State’s Puget Sound. His poetry has appeared in dozens of literary journals, including Atlanta Review, Prairie Schooner, Poet Lore, The Healing Muse, and American Literary Review.

Two collections of his poems have been published: War Poet (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2017) and Adagio for Su Tung-p’o (Fernwood Press, 2019). A third collection, Dust and Dragons, will be published in late 2022.