Sage Across the River By Valerie “Ariel” Van Haltern
In late afternoon, I reach the last rocks broken on the ridge Boulders with their formidable shadows behind me Nesting in fogs of an ancient world Regions bare-cold in the ice of the clouds Strung far from sun and horizon. Lands of eternal silence lost to most... Startled by the freedom opening before me The sudden expression of space and time The unfurling endless shows of earth In gradual slopes of terraced curves Ripe with mint and bamboo blossom I descend in the direction of the western-tinted sky. On path of winding sand and slate Through waves of sun’s retreat Hues of late spring settle the lowlands In restful vapors of cinnabar light. From high to low – pools of gravity Detain debris of thunder, and wind and rain How many sandstorms the weathered arcs have known How many footsteps the seasoned land. In this intricate, invisible record Of eons come and gone I live a moment within the moving world… Is this the elixir then, the qi of now? Chemistries of atomic rain convening twilight Nameless things joining the veil pardoned of time... I am certain the old sage must have come this way… I am told he lives where the river runs… End of day haze stalls over the land A cocoon loosens its silken thread in slow unwinding Over the sun’s departure the halo’s stilled fiber
The Empty Vessel — Page 34
Warm enough, strong enough to warm the sand golden Under a graying sky. Delicate path surreal in its glow Touched by travelers then and now, in life or dream I follow track and glyph of wandering bird and human. I watch. I wait. Abandoned by light’s retreat, Stirred by the night carrying wind Only the deepest, strongest tracks remain To lift some record of day over the bridge into night. Footprints in the sand – heir to change… Who will know the direction the old sage travels? Who will meet him on his wandering meditation – his “random walk?” Who will sense his birth, his death, his place in the lapse between day and night? I look for him. I listen. The cry and call of winged ones overhead A ghostly flock flying with the clouds Shadows in search of night’s retreat A faint flutter of wings in the closing of the veilBy small light I follow surviving tracks I depart the path of wind’s resistance Lines of willow softening my way Feathered leaves sweeping hypnotic — Under a starry dome A winding river guides my way Sings its silvered song. Parted by easy motions of weather Ghost trees in their leaning into dark Reveal rock face of cave, an opening Simple of dirt and broken twig Sanctuary of nature, Immortal’s place To comfort the heart awaiting dawn. The wise sage must be here! To advance or retreat? I call “Wise one, have you come this way? Invite me to your refuge out of the cold.
For months I have followed you.” The waterway moves southward Then flows west and out of view I might have heard something crucial thenThe breeze over the speaking rocks Or his voice gone soft on the river. “Listen! For ages I have hoped to find you….” The rocks stir underwater A footstep crosses the line of shadow And like a rabbit leaves no trace. “Wise one! I come with a true and open heart.” “Then you have come the way of the clouds and have followed the wind of no fixed direction.” “Ah, it must be you! Ghost or dream… But I know direction! I have traveled east to west.” “Then you have flown the void Where the sky birds fly.” “I have only gone as high as the hills behind me.” “Then you have traveled the way of balance free of question for the hill knows the mountain and the mountain, balance.” “But I do have questions. Where are you? Teach me. Which way is the right way?” “As the winged ones go – into nightfall.” “That is no answer. Where are you going? Teach me on the way.” The breeze inhales the river’s surface Trembling ripples in shards of light Cosmic storm raining stars Caught by willows under heaven. “Have you followed the way of the river, Taoist? Wait for me or I will be lost.” Knowing that I have failed to see him To find what lies beyond the turn I wonder if the course goes anywhere South or west or north-
