Beauty Amid Thunder

In the exhibit of scrolls from China,

I am lost in a river scene when a heavy

man with a beard leads a young woman

by the hand. Maybe his daughter. She is

blind. They stand before a scroll called

Clearing After Rain. In a soft whisper, he

says “The trees are swaying. The river is

moving. The wind is picking up from the

east.” She paints the scene for herself

somewhere inside. His voice is a bird

that darts about her sky.