7.14.2012

rain in dali, china

dark night, pouring rain, minimal umbrella 
i could be anywhere right now
but i am here
my home a country away, my home a world away, my home 
right here
now

tomorrow night in another town and another bed, but still wearing the same old dirty indian yellow shirt, and sleeping under the same yak-hair shawl i bought in nepal 
new friends today, new friends everyday 
"if we have affinity, then we will meet again," he says, catching my eye across the crowd of chanting old women in traditional bai-tribe outfits
it's time to go 
"if we have affinity," i repeat, and smile knowing that it's all affinity, it's all yuan-fen, it's all complete magic, synchronicity, and a blessed symphony of massive dimensions that we can only dream of

"we humans," said my new sculptor friend today, hands calmly massaging his bowl chipped on the outside and smooth on the inside, "we humans are like hair. if the universe is a human, then we are but hairs on the human. we are less than the leg hair or arm hair. but we think we are so much…" 
he merges taoist philosophy with each pot, each vase, each ceramic piece filled with loving kindness, calmness, and general goodwill
they will have a baby in 2 months 
in 2 months i will be… 

"you do too much," he says, as we share life stories, "just pick one thing and completely dedicate yourself into it."
the most powerful herbal infusion is not a mishmash of different herbs. one herb fills the bottle and you let it steep
dear life, how am i steeping? 
i have not even yet begun, small hair just beginning to be aware of being nothing but a small hair… 

"i am an artist," i said today, as she fondled my notebook and cooed love songs of all sorts to my companion-journal of 5 years, "life inspires me"