One Bird-Smeared Poem

My clumsy poem on the inn-wall none cared to see. 

With bird-droppings and moss's growth the letters were blotched away. 

There came a guest with heart so full, that though a page to the Throne, 

He did not grudge with his broidered coat to wipe off the dust, and read. 

 --Po Chü-i (Bai Juyi)