"Notes from the Cloud Prairie"

The asphalt road glistens with moisture in the morning mist, winding like an ink-colored silk ribbon into the depths of mountain shadows. Red rooftops peek out from behind gray-green fences, their eaves still hanging with gauzy curtains, like eyelids heavy with sleep. I count the yellow lines as I stroll forward, suddenly hearing a soft rustling—an ostrich on the sandy ground preening its feathers, its snow-white neck curved into an elegant question mark, its tail feathers filtering fine gold flakes through the pine shadows. The wooden archway bears a green sign reading "Cloud Prairie" just as sunlight spills across the third wooden plank. A guide dressed in black hands me a wicker ring; the sound of clashing brass rings awakens dewdrops on the grass tips. Here, every leaf is steeped in mint-scented silence, until the vermilion eaves of a mountain pavilion catch wisps of clouds, and I suddenly realize I'm walking on wooden grain toward the clouds. The Taj Mahal on the brick wall awakens in the twilight. The weathered red frame cannot contain its reflection in water; those marble arcs grow sharper in the black and white world, slicing dusk into intertwined ribbons of light and shadow. I reach out to touch the coolness seeping from the brick joints but catch a falling silk tree blossom instead—so the deep courtyard hides May's snow, orange-red fruits nestled among white petals, gently swaying before the carved windows of the cream-colored building. A pink-eared rabbit holds up a wooden "welcome" sign in a never-tiring smile. The gravel path splits into three arrows, room key 8002 burns hot in my pocket, and stone lanterns illuminate the moss. As the wicker chair receives the night colors offered by the forest, metal frames strike against gravel with clear echoes. I suddenly understand that the so-called Cloud Prairie teaches us to imprint ourselves upon all things: on the tip of an ostrich's tail feather, on the reflective surface of the laundry room sign, in the depths of the Taj Mahal's water mirror, and even between every restless, tossing star.