5.
Heaven (that sky level above the human head)-Earth (this soil vagina)…
the husk of the initial protective bud casing—the sepal—but not really the true inner flower of
being a personable person relating to others;
this means
the myriad scorpion medicine-dancing Ten Thousand
Things cut off—all matter external to oneself like cows etc….
efforting—like lifting up an elephant…
wrapped straw-
dogs—decorated, symbolic sacrificial objects.
The grounded sage—listening and speaking, standing connected to earth as well as the heavens,
that person…
the husk of the initial protective bud casing—the sepal—but not really the true inner flower of
being a personable person relating to others;
this means
a hundred
family names that women, kneeling with breasts, sprout from the ground…
efforting—like lifting up an elephant…
wrapped straw-
dogs—decorated, symbolic sacrificial objects.
Heaven (that sky level above the human head)-Earth (this soil vagina)
has this
interstice—space where moonlight’s peeking leisurely through the double-winged gateway…
what it holds a basket of…
indeed, like a dog that rises to the top of the alcohol vat…
a bellows-flute—bamboo with three frets, played with the mouth;
—pah, can you?!
Emptying—like lifted land below tiger fur—
and yet now, bearded, you:
the husk of the initial protective bud casing—the sepal—but not really the true inner flower of
bending—like one who represents the dead in a rite, flexing to step out of a cave;
laboring—like moving heavy bags with great strength—
and yet now, bearded, you:
more and even more—like someone gathering themselves together from three sides by moonlight over their heart-core after a blade cut off their foot as punishment and now they’ve recovered from that illness—
stepping out of their cave.
Much more—like a double serving of meat—
speaking—words, like slaves or criminals branded by a chisel emerging from a mouth…
is counting up—like a mother, lightly hitting, scolding her daughter—to
being used up and destitute—your pregnant self, buried with a bow:
the husk of the initial protective bud casing—the sepal—but not really the true inner flower of
‘as if’—like a woman just doing as told—
hand-defending this—your building—
in the center—like that drum with a flagpole placed in the middle of a field to gather the people, detect the wind.
The Dào of Lâozî 