A Chinese Scholar’s Garden

by Judith Meyerowitz

Out of the mist, a clearing slowly comes into view.
A secret scholar’s garden inked into a mountain.

Amid the craggy rocks, green splotches, hints of evergreen, smell of pine.
Around the trees light bends
Is it all illusion?

In the gazebos student scholars gather
They unwrap the silk cocoon of ancient writings
Silently let the narrative landscape materialize
Scrolls unfurl, rolling, rolling, unrolling. Calligraphs spill into the skies.
The thickly inked brushstrokes crash into boxes of red seals.
Colophons cascade like waterfalls down the steep ravines.
Poems tell the story of a
secluded scholar artist
relaxing at his back gate in bare feet
His robe unfurls like the leaves of the scrolls.
His Buddha belly soft in contrast to the hardness of the mountains.
He looks at veins of green foliage between the thighs of fleshy prominences
Lines of art and poetry in intimate harmony

Judith Meyerowitz has published both poetry and prose in Voices. She began to write poetry after participating in LP2 groups.