Tao Yuan-Ming

Tao Yuan-Ming

The River of Stars
shine upon the earth,
spinning webs of light,
into a story of silk:

On the River of Eternity
a stranger drifts thru the wilderness.
A trail of red petals float,
like footprints on water,
leading the stranger to shore.
A mountain looms above his head,
disappearing into blue mist.
The fortress of stone gives way,
like a crack in the world,
revealing a crevice--barely visible.
The stranger slips thru.
The known world disappears.
Light appears at the end of the tunnel.
The stranger walks into paradise.
The lost world of Peach Blossom Spring.
A place of mystery and magic,
where white clouds make a terrace
across the Blue Palace.
A waterfall cascades
into the jade-green valley.
A rainbow of trees and flowers:
red peach trees,
orange and yellow apricots,
golden chrysanthemums,
white and pink magnolias,
purple orchids.

At the edge
of the "universe's eight corners,"
the Nine Dragons of Heaven
play with the Sun and Moon,
while Tao Yuan-Ming sleeps
and dreams, inside a dream.