Poetry Thursday - "A Wish-Fulfilling Jewel"

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we would be studying Tibet this year, to learn some history and culture of this beautiful land and its beautiful people. The writing of Woeser touches me with both veils of emotion and a stunning, poignant clarity.

In a poem, translated into English, called The Past, we read in one of the stanzas:

"This lotus, withering, cannot be my lotus.
My lotus is the lotus of the past,

Enfolding the snow mountains, lovely,

Many a prayer flag, five colors fluttering,

Oh, many prayer flags, five colors fluttering."

In One the Road, she tells us:

"On the road,

I clutch a flower not of this world,

Hurrying before it dies, searching in all directions,

That I may present it to an old man in a deep red robe.

A wish−fulfilling jewel,

A wisp of a smile:

These bind the generations tight."

In that same way that an other-worldly flower and a smile can bind the generations tight, so Woeser's words can bind cultures together. To learn more about her writing and her stuggle, and to read these poems in their entirety go here. As I read her poems and consider Tibet, I find myself thinking, If only there were a wish-fulfilling jewel...

photo above from June, 2009, with "water-color" photo-editting enhancement.