Chinese Mountain Man VI: The Gorge

The travelers had reached a gorge

Whose darkness they would have to breach.

The mountaintops lay far ahead—

“Such darkness has a lot to teach,”

The master said while looking down

The river gorge’s darkened depths—

The frightened boy sighed deep, and looked

About, and spoke in shortened breaths.

“Master, it seems that there's no way

To cross this dark abyss—there is

No way ahead, there is no way,

To cross, or climb—we must turn back.”

But as he looked on in despair,

He saw a bridge among the mists,

Further down, couched among the crags,

Suspended over the abyss.

The ancient teacher turned and smiled,

“The challenge is the same for all

Who hope to make the climb,” he said,

“The climber cannot fear the fall.”

And as they stood there looking on

Into darkling skies of night,

A soft breeze suddenly appeared—

The wraith-like mist then took its flight.

The little bridge serenely swayed

Beneath the moon. “It’s time to forge

Ahead,” the master whispered to

The boy, "Ready to cross the gorge?”

David Gosselin is a poet, translator, and linguist based in Montreal. He is the founder of The Chained Muse poetry website and the founder of the New Lyre Podcast. His first collection of poems is entitled Modern Dreams.