Chinese Mountain Man: Dreams

Philosophical Vignettes

Now after many, many years,
And after many, many tears,

Alas, they’d reached the mountain top—
The summit which so many sought.

Under the heavens’ starry shrouds,
The sage and boy walked through the clouds

Where scarlet moonlight gently bathed
Each glistening slope and snowy cave.

They walked among the chastened snow
Which cast on them a starry glow.

But as the young man faced his fears,
He felt an avalanche of tears.

He saw his master in the snow,
Ailing far from their homes below.

“Master, please say that you’re alright
And let us settle for the night.”

The master looked at the young man
And said, “I’ve climbed all that I can.”

“I’ve spent so many precious years
Making the climb, now my time nears.”

“But you still have much more to go;
The more you climb, the more you’ll know.”

The peaks were shining and pristine;
The sage lay quiet and serene.

But the student still lamented,
Aching from many trials, tormented.

“It takes so many years to reach
These heights and many more to teach”

“Another man to make the climb,
To dedicate his tears and time.”

“Why pursue knowledge day by day,
If it must still dwindle away?”

“All of the knowledge that one wrought,
All of the truths for which one fought,”

“Must then be purloined by the breeze—
Death silences all of our pleas.”

The boy looked to the star-laced skies,
The tears now burning in his eyes.

The master turned to him and gazed:
Looking upon the boy unfazed  

He said, “All is not what it seems,
A man must die, but not his dreams.”

The pupil looked into the sky;
A single tear streamed from his eye.

David B. Gosselin is a poet, translator, writer, and researcher based in Montreal. He is the founder of The Chained Muse and hosts Escaping the Brave New World.