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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Outdated methods and foolish wishes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.

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