China

There are many beautiful Chinese landscapes

in art and the land that inspired it.

Mists and fog and smog and sun mix

and can be eerily deceiving.

Across the mountain walls they built paths

and along these paths they built temples.

But the     passing was not     always easy

and, to protect their   temples and palaces     they built a wall,

A wall that went on

and on

so far that it became     part of the the landscape         itself.

Emperors lived in palaces with elaborate moats.

Temples and shrines

adorned in reds and gold

and gardens carved in stone     imitating         nature.

You enter through massive gates

and elegant doors

guarded by dragons

and surrounded by ancient trees entwined with serpents and ghosts.

And the temples, such beautiful temples...

graceful       serene, places of peace       in peace time

where even       the air and trees     are filled with prayers and poetry.

If you look around and dream,

the past         emerges   from     the shadows.

Objects of       daily life   echo and cross       the centuries.

Bright colors shine

and flap.

People fish in ponds and rivers,

sell food   by every wayside,

and, when small and hungry,       eat rice with chopsticks             standing in rickshaws.

Wushu     is focus,

Beauty     and power         in one.

© 2001-2005, Sean Palfrey. All rights reserved.

Sean Palfrey
  White Horse Canyon Photographs
    Scraggy Neck Road
      Cataumet, MA 02534
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