Shih-Tao's Vision
"But me, I see it!" exclaimed Shih-Tao—
"Mountain is the sea & sea is the mountain."
Universal flowing and embracing—
circular movement of mountain & sea.
I step through the door into Shih-Tao's
landscape, full of curiosity, wondering
where he gets that vision? How can I
reconcile mountain & sea are the same.
Shih-Tao invites me to sit by him but
he's not talking to me but the mountain.
I keep quiet and listen to what
this art master has to say—
Physically they're so different—
Mountain is tall, the sea is deep;
mountain is above, the sea below;
mountain stands still, sea always moving.
Mountain streams flow down to the sea.
Sea evaporates to become clouds
that snow to crown mountain-tops—
Symbiosis between mountain and sea.
Now I recall the solid iceberg
from the sea sinking the Titanic,
fluid mountain lava and flow from
volcanoes destroying whole cities.
Atlantis is under the sea somewhere,
Chu Hsi found seashell on mountain-top.
Continent immersed in water,
sea now on land— a tall mountain.
Dot of yin in yang, dot of yang in yin—
Even at midnight, dawn is creeping in,
at high noon, darkness is approaching.
Such is the magic of transformation.
Peter Y. Chou
Mountain View, 5-21-2018
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Conversation with Mountain
(1701) by Shih-Tao
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Light of Dawn (1669)
by Shih-Tao
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