Yangming Shan
Three things cannot Be long Hidden: the sun, the moon and the Truth
- Buddha
At Taichi class
One day past
I saw a Sight
A man with his Family sitting in the Sunlight
This man was Called Zheng Manqing
There in the Hills of Yangming
And it got me to Think
As at this photograph I did Stare
I Remember Being there...
***
It was two months after my Visit to the Mountains of Alishan
Which afterward left me Feeling like I'd been Hit by a van
As I was Beginning to Realise the Life from which I had ran
And Now Something New was Starting
As I'd spend Time with the Kids at the kindergarten
I realised my Inner World was rather spartan
I'd Look at the Innocence of the Child face
And Felt I was a bit of a disgrace
So easily they'd Come to me for a Hug
For some reason I'd start to well up
Something Inside Touched by this Forgotten Love
And so One long weekend
Spirit took me as a Friend
And off We went to the Northern part
Weighed down with a Heavy Heart
And a Wondering Mind
What am I trying to Find?
Off to the city of Taipei
To a youth hostel to Stay
I buzzed the intercom and my Voice did Speak
And I Walked up the staircase to Meet
A worker All ready to greet
Someone Who wasn't me...
And Who Are You?
Well does my backpack not give You a Clue?
Yes but You're not Chinese?
Well no...Are You unpleased?
I Thought you were from Beijing You See
On the intercom...?
Oh I guess I was Wrong
And I thought maybe All along
My Chinese was kinda sorta Good
To have Fooled them into Thinking I was from That neck of the woods
Well I gave myself a pat on the back
And dusted off some Feelings of crap
I put my stuff down on the bed mat
And went off Out for a night market snack
Then Into the Night I had a Ponder as I sat
Under a moonless Sky
Watching the rain drizzle by
***
The next day I Wandered around
This misty Rainy big ass town
Perhaps I appreciated the sun wasn't out
As I was Being gloomy Now
And I must say
Yes the Skies they were grey
But as a city, it's quite a Natureous place
And I took myself off to the Hills to Play
On a bus Up we Go
Winding Up into the Hills nice and Slow
As there were Many places to Go
Like the asylum for the Mentally Ill
A plain Old building no frills
This is a Strange bus Stop
Halfway to the top
Of a National Park
Well I guess it's nice and Enough far
Away from the Noise and trafficky cars
And Now last stop Here I Am
Being persuaded into a tourist van
Naw man
I'll just Walk
Give me some Space for an Inner Talk
And so into the Wilder Space I did Venture
Choosing on this occasion not to be a van renter
And what lovely weather
Reminiscent of the Misty Hills and heather
Of my Native Land
Where It's so Rainy and Foggy I can barely See my Hands
And sometimes it's difficult to Stand
With this Blowy Gust
But oh well trudge on I must
And barely Anyone else did I See
And honestly Felt greatly Relieved
For I was in the Way of Being a Loner
And Listening to the Quiet without that Inner moaner
Yes at that Time I was Being quiet
As I was well Aware my Life had been a bit of a riot
And no longer could I simply pass by It
As I Walked along Feeling forlorn
I Admitted to myself most of my Life I had Felt very Torn
And so Now it was Time to Begin
Looking Deeper Within
***
Walking In the Rain and Mist
Feeling there was Something I had Missed
What Is It?
To my right a path goes Up
Should I go or have I had Enough?
Ach I'll have a Go
Hard as the Wind may Blow
I Know what it is to Feel so Low
And That there's not really much to Lose
So into the hilly bushes
I began to Pursue
Whatever It Is
I'll Open to It
After a wee trek
I begin to Forget
About Emotions
Just Following an Inner Notion
Nature In Motion
And it's easier to set aside your cares
In the fresh Mountainous Air
I Reach a plateau
Look around, Nowhere to go
Well at least I didn't have to queue
For this decidedly Blank View
Grey, grey, grey
Wonder what It's like on a sunny day?
Seems no One else Is Here
For miles there's no One near
Well really Who comes out Here in a Storm
Except for the Brave and the Forlorn?
And as the Rain came down with Heavy pelters
I made my Way to a tin shelter
And Inside...a Man!
Made it up Here without a van?
Aye well I Love These Lands
Here haud oot yer Hand
Eh what's This you've got Planned
A wee bottle sitting in his palm
Ahhh Baijiu, an alcohol 90% strong
Well I think We'll get along
And I Joined This Man In Celebration
In having Reached this barren grey Destination
And after a Good few gulps
I was Feeling as Strong as the Hulk
And a nice wee Inner Heat
To Balance out my soggy Feet
And We had a Good wee Chat
About...well This and That
And also Offerings of snacks
Aye I quite fancy some of that
They're Kind the Taiwanese
And as the Rain began to Ease
We went Our separate Ways enjoying the Solitary Peace
***
I went along down a different Way
And came to a Clearing in which I did Stay
For a Moment, for a bit
And perhaps in my Reality there was a Glitch
For as I Stopped and Listened
To a Silence so Deep
Into me Something did Seep
I Felt from Above and All Around
A great big Gonging Sound
GONG
Gooooooooong
And I wasn't sure whether It was Within or outwith
But It was for a moment a Fog did Lift
And Something Inside began to Shift
But I didn't quite Know what to make of It
So off I went again this Time with a bit of a skip
Feeling Something had Given me a Lift
Not yet Aware that the Fabric of my Reality was beginning to Rip...
