Updated from original posted in 2012.
Deep in the highlands of Hubei
wild torrents cut through gorges
carved in mists so long ago.
Today the tamed river languishes
caught behind a concrete slab until
released
to wander ancient river plains
stretching out on black earth flats
below the rolling orange groves
past cotton patches
flooded paddies
down through lands
of grit and coal
by tollway roads
to concrete rows
in cities of ten million
souls – new centers
that were built
to sparkle, broker
fortunes, beckon
dreams and draw
beleaguered masses
forward, soar
into a gray-brown
skyscape, lined
with cranes
and belching stacks
that stitch the land
and sky with smog
sealing earth
beneath the load
of human progress.
So the modern world goes
as Gaia sighs and sets her gaze
to wait upon a wiser world
of sages and keepers who care
for her creatures in ages of Edens to come.
