The families
In their donkey carts
Loaded with goods to sell
At the weekend market
An anachronism
A paradox
To a Westerner
Like me
“As if time stopped here”
“Backward culture”
“Forgotten world”
“Under developed”
“Third World”
I am tempted
By the observation
“Life is so much better
In my world”
But is it, really?
Family
Food
Shelter
Love
Laughter
Beyond that
I may know less of their life
Than they know of mine
Both of us so badly informed
By news and Hollywood
I am struck by the depth
Of my own hubris
Arising in the thoughts
My life is intrinsically
Better than theirs and
We have so much
To teach them
So I sit by the dry river bed
Watching them prepare for market
Intent on the possibility
I have lessons to learn
And these are my teachers
Kuche
Xinjiang Autonomous Region
The People’s Republic of China
Taken during travels, 1998
The Pic and a Word Challenge is a weekly creativity prompt offered Sunday mornings.
Each week I provide a photograph of mine along with a single word. The challenge? Use the pic and/or word as points of inspiration to create something — a photograph, a painting, prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, longread or just a few words. You are welcome to use these two elements (photograph and word) literally, thematically or metaphorically. If you create both images and words, all the better.
To participate:
- Use any title you like
- Your response can be words and/or an image
- You may use my image in your post, or any image you have created
- Place the challenge’s Pic (if you use it for inspiration) and Word prominently in your post
- Mention that you are responding to the Pic and a Word Challenge
- Add a link to this post in your response
To help us find your response, you can also:
- Add a comment on this post to announce your response
- Apply the tag “Pic and a Word Challenge” to your post
Each week, I’ll list the previous week’s responses at the end of the new challenge. I may also share some on my social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc.
Two lovely responses this week. Thank you! =)