A Journey of the Mind.
From the foothills
of the Fragrant Slopes,
Far from the algorithms
and the data governing me,
I journey on to Guilin.
The mountains rise up mystical,
Dramatic…without fuss.
I breath and feel quite heady
from the scent of Osmanthus.
And there the Li Jiang river,
(which I shall never see)
Proceeds… in calm and hazy dream
before my ‘locked-in’ eyes.
How still the waters are.
How free from human bias.
How faithfully is nature’s’ art
reflected in the silvery surface.
At dawn, a fisherman glides by
His bamboo boat leaves
neither ripple nor a sound.
Two cormorants, a hoop and rod
are all he needs.
His life is that profound.
And as this journey ends …
I drift away.
The world is at our fingertips.
Tomorrow is another day.
Kristine Byrne April 2020
Photo via Mercier Zeng