Maureen Owen
Phyllis Wat
    Postcard Collaborations

the Chinese family's parrot
         speaks Chinese
I do not


or once when the destination is set it doesn't matter if
the road is long and uneven




thatched & tiled sloping roofs bend down their lowering
skirts to the passersby
sunlight draping 
      barge-eyed     puddles    in missing blocks of stone     warming
 two  basket-laden  girls           who have shown up when they should     Such legendary charm         
outwitting  the sliding doors of historians    a little bit sensational
a signal that something might be going on in this part of the world    of
storefronts  mostly wood & glass & flooded through  with
steamy soakings     a photographer  snaps   

Owen

Lijiang

When you get older your brain gets less sticky. Do not resist this. The ten oxherding
pictures point to possibilities of new behavior. But it's a lot of work. The Chinese like to
call things by numbers, like the Three Respects, the Four Olds, the Five Black Classes.
This work requires the Great Threes. They are Great Faith, Great Doubt and Great
Determination. It sounds friendly. There is a big business in zazen cushions and Tibetan
knickknacks. I admire their shape. Which comes out of imagination plus centuries of
refinement. Goods things are being done with resin.

Wat