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Issue #59, China: Shigu and Zhongdian, April 18-19, 2003. Photographs and Haiku by Jonathan, with a few haiku by Barbara Lenssen.
4/18 stone drum village,
tiger leaping gorge, zhongdian
flat-headed driver
honks before passing blue truck
we talk of culture
there is a saying
the cantonese eat all legs
except table legs
open pit latrine
at random chinese truck stop
above the yangtze
strategic crossing
for mao, genghis and zu ge ling
on way to tibet
sweating profusely
while the driver navigates
rural interstate
road construction crew
doing everything by hand
in orange baseball caps
houses of mud bricks
and rough timber construction
plus sattelite dish
our driver on cell
roaring above the yangtze
precarious cliff
traffic obstructed
by spontaneous street market
spilling into street
digging in her ear
lady holds green umbrella
at the leaping gorge
coming face to face
with the community loo
in southwest china
somehow they manage
to fix the road while letting
the tour bus pass
backbreaking work
seventy-five cents an hour
most wearing suit-tops
4/19 zhongdian, shutu lake,
gadan song lin monastery -
1679 by 5th dalai lama
while we eat breakfast
black mother sow and piglets
forage for garbage
tibetan shelters
leaking charcoal under eaves
from suppertime fire
plowing fields with yaks
slow paced, plodding and planting
potatoes follow
cell phone transmitter
towers over white stupa
give buddha a call
rhodendron tree
with moss hanging like tinsel
on north face of shore
raising my eyebrows
at a sign that invokes me
to cherish the lawn
resting with orange moss
early spring at a chinese lake
yak meat in belly
two cows in a pit
tearing apart a cardboard box
one dead cow nearby
mixing wool with clay
for a fine, slow-drying mud
in sculpture workshop
twenty timbers each
mud walls pounded wet and thick
house in shangri-la
the evolution
of the traditional house
is pursued by all
training the body
not to be led by the mind
tibetan teaching
pig, goat and snake
three poisions in the wheel of time
ignorance, desire, jealousy
in the wheel of time
do not be a hungry ghost
with a tiny throat
seven bowls under scrolls
can't remember
details of the linneage
just method, wisdom
at the museum
docents follow intently
while pictures peel from the wall
unable to speak
of tibetan history
next to chinese guide
late afternoon breeze
prayer flags ripple in the wind
old mud walls crumble
designs of butter
made for devotional shrine
monk repeats mantras
Barbara Lenssen's Zhondian haiku
mighty yangtze calm
reflections of tall mountains
first bend of river
teeth chattering road
construction provides massage
weary passengers
tiger leaping gorge
steep steps bring rapids, close, spray
kayaks not survive
satellite dishes
inside houses have no plumbing
they prefer t.v.
prayer flags fluttering
blue sky, white clouds, red fire
green water, yellow earth
roadwork jams traffic
precipitous, treacherous
gail refuses to look
pinetrees on hillsides
terraces covered with graves
cement covers dead
two buckets, a pole
watering gardens by hand
green rice in paddies
4/20 flying from zhongdian to kunming,
western hills, guilin
everybody's smoke
is everyone's problem
sucking in blue air
polluted green lake
above hand-chiseled walkway
that took years to carve
stone buddhas look out
at butterflys in up draft
seeking cliff flowers
vacant mao peace park
next to vibrant market
turtles in tubs
commemorating
the peaceful revolution
bird market nearby
4/18 stone drum village,
tiger leaping gorge, zhongdian
flat-headed driver
honks before passing blue truck
we talk of culture
there is a saying
the cantonese eat all legs
except table legs
open pit latrine
at random chinese truck stop
above the yangtze
strategic crossing
for mao, genghis and zu ge ling
on way to tibet
sweating profusely
while the driver navigates
rural interstate
road construction crew
doing everything by hand
in orange baseball caps
houses of mud bricks
and rough timber construction
plus sattelite dish
our driver on cell
roaring above the yangtze
precarious cliff
traffic obstructed
by spontaneous street market
spilling into street
digging in her ear
lady holds green umbrella
at the leaping gorge
coming face to face
with the community loo
in southwest china
somehow they manage
to fix the road while letting
the tour bus pass
backbreaking work
seventy-five cents an hour
most wearing suit-tops
4/19 zhongdian, shutu lake,
gadan song lin monastery -
1679 by 5th dalai lama
while we eat breakfast
black mother sow and piglets
forage for garbage
tibetan shelters
leaking charcoal under eaves
from suppertime fire
plowing fields with yaks
slow paced, plodding and planting
potatoes follow
cell phone transmitter
towers over white stupa
give buddha a call
rhodendron tree
with moss hanging like tinsel
on north face of shore
raising my eyebrows
at a sign that invokes me
to cherish the lawn
resting with orange moss
early spring at a chinese lake
yak meat in belly
two cows in a pit
tearing apart a cardboard box
one dead cow nearby
mixing wool with clay
for a fine, slow-drying mud
in sculpture workshop
twenty timbers each
mud walls pounded wet and thick
house in shangri-la
the evolution
of the traditional house
is pursued by all
training the body
not to be led by the mind
tibetan teaching
pig, goat and snake
three poisions in the wheel of time
ignorance, desire, jealousy
in the wheel of time
do not be a hungry ghost
with a tiny throat
seven bowls under scrolls
can't remember
details of the linneage
just method, wisdom
at the museum
docents follow intently
while pictures peel from the wall
unable to speak
of tibetan history
next to chinese guide
late afternoon breeze
prayer flags ripple in the wind
old mud walls crumble
designs of butter
made for devotional shrine
monk repeats mantras
Barbara Lenssen's Zhondian haiku
mighty yangtze calm
reflections of tall mountains
first bend of river
teeth chattering road
construction provides massage
weary passengers
tiger leaping gorge
steep steps bring rapids, close, spray
kayaks not survive
satellite dishes
inside houses have no plumbing
they prefer t.v.
prayer flags fluttering
blue sky, white clouds, red fire
green water, yellow earth
roadwork jams traffic
precipitous, treacherous
gail refuses to look
pinetrees on hillsides
terraces covered with graves
cement covers dead
two buckets, a pole
watering gardens by hand
green rice in paddies
4/20 flying from zhongdian to kunming,
western hills, guilin
everybody's smoke
is everyone's problem
sucking in blue air
polluted green lake
above hand-chiseled walkway
that took years to carve
stone buddhas look out
at butterflys in up draft
seeking cliff flowers
vacant mao peace park
next to vibrant market
turtles in tubs
commemorating
the peaceful revolution
bird market nearby
solo/group kukai
drawing/writing/photography
jonathan machen
drawing/writing/photography
jonathan machen