Corn-cob Cave Cat-ear Cave
Caves all over the hills
too many to count
Hemp poles candles
flashlights
A few faint beams slip into the mountains
At Corn-cob Cave's mouth
the rock gapes like a giant's jaw
Stalagmites stand lifelike one by one
Before Cat-ear Cave
the passage coils like a spiral
Bats hang in rows along the rocky beams
The old folks laugh
"This cave leads straight to heaven"
We half-believe it
though it's plainly in the hills
The hemp torch catches fire
shadows climb the stone
A candle sways and the pillars wake
An elephant's trunk hangs low
an embroidered ball floats in the air
A Miao bride's dowry
hidden in the stone palace
The cave is deep and cool
the mountain rings
Shout one word
everything turns bright
The cave is long and black
light hides inside
Flash the torch
it's all treasure
Don't ask what it is
it's stone still growing
A hundred years
one centimeter of light
The elder whispers low
a serpent in the deep
Scales like fire coiled in its lair
We walk to the hidden stream
water singing ding-dong
On tiptoe to peer bending down to listen
The water runs so deep
the bottom stays unseen
Only our reflections float upon its face
Ten thousand sights
we stand in awe
Grandfather warns us
the cave keeps a cave-god
"Don't go too deep
Come home before it's dark"
We clutch our flashlights
faking fearless grins
Wind sweeps the mouth
we chase each other laughing
Back in daylight
we trade looks: it was real magic
These wonders saved to tell another day
Deep in the hills a palace of stone
Where water has carved a kingdom unknown
This is the wonder the earth's hidden art
Drip by drip the mountain blesses every part
Shout once —the mountain answers once
Shout"hello"
the hill echoes"hello"back
Shout"no fear"
the echo comes back louder
The cave gives back only what we give it
Heading home the light follows along
A stone takes a hundred years to crawl a single inch
And we saw a lifetime of wonders in one afternoon
Out of the cave down the hill
peaches and plums by the yard
The waterwheel creaks scooping up the sunset glow
Whitebait leap their scales like shattered gold
We race to leap —the way the fish do
Then dare the depth —a mouthful of cold
The river's chill sinks all the way to the bone
We dive to the bottom eyes wide open
The world under water outshines the caves
Corn-cob Cave Cat-ear Cave
Who will hear the stories of the caves
Slowness is the truth of time
The road never shortens
but the feet grow
The courage of childhood is the light of a lifetime
