Unburdened

The old man sighed Sitting on a rock next to a pond Crookedly balancing Yin and Yang between his eyelashes Conversing with the Lady of the pond Jade eyes and un-wrinkled time In Her beautiful face Held in his hands An old fishing rod Bamboo Bends and flexes with the times It holds and catches even the biggest Devils in the water The lotus flowers embrace the jade tide Soft-hearted water caressing unmovable rock Trees bent in silent reflection The ultimate knowledge, the Lady whispered Lies between the murmur of the leaves The laughter of the lotus The bend in the trees Listen! Listen! These will outlast everything He thought I shall give knowledge to my sons And teach them Soul The old man contemplated The secession of his life There is a time to hold on and a time To let go This time, his time Is over, long gone with the Maiden on the Moon Beckoning him home He taught the young men To bend with the rod To bow to the spirits To be one with God To be forceful, to be soft To listen and to speak Wise Man’s words And Foolish Man’s dreams He told the Old Stories He sang the Old Songs Traditions and ancient verses To light their path through life’s courses And as each of his sons threw the rod on the ground Frustrated with the old man’s ways Outdated methods and foolish wishes The heavens opened and unleashed The ultimate Father’s Rage The rain pounded on the once peaceful pond Dismantling the flowers and smothering the land With a wrathful urgency Drowning the Lady in the lake Her beautiful jade eyes never again to reflect philosophies Hidden in the reeds The lotuses closed onto themselves Never again to give such a sweet smell The old man sighed It’s out of his hands now, it’s out of his hands now And this, This will outlast Everything.