In our hearts, we like to return home
Sep 14th, 2007 by Michael Max
To the ear that has not learned to pull meaning out of the staccato of short syllables accented with tone, Chinese sounds like a rusty machine gun.
But, for those who can pull meaning from the slurry of sound, it sounds like this poem from my friend Jiang, who lives in Yangshou.
In our hearts we like to return home
Sometimes we forget that we are just natural people, we hover like the birds,we are free like fish,we are like cute dogs, and we enjoy the sight of flowers, we are unrestrained like a melody full of poetic pictures.
We often yearn the beauty of natures places, especially if sad and we have a desire to return to our homes.
I guess we forget we too are nature’s gifts. All of nature’s animals and wildlife also see us as a beautiful scenery and they too want to return to their homes.
When we lay beneath the blue sky with its soft white clouds we can close our eyes and hear the whisper of the butterflies and the fish swimming in a nearby brook..
We can climb high mountains and look down on an ancient civilization and imagine time gone by.
What a privilege it is to be able to visit local people in their own homes and feel warmth from their friendliness.
Our hearts are more happy when we allow the love we feel shine out to others.
Jiang is a travel guide, who will be showing our group of western acupunks around Yangshou. A journey with her is not simply about the territory!