Donkey Carts & Families, Staging for Market Day, Kuche, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, The People's Republic of China

Family ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #46

They come
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

Market Day
Kuche
Xinjiang Autonomous Region
The People’s Republic of China

Taken during travels, 1998

Last week we ran up against walls… This week? Let’s visit family. Or find something else in this image of donkey carts and families staging for market in the dry riverbed running through Kuche, China.

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:

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.

Last week’s challenge: Walls

Outer Wall, Wat Pho, Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand
Challenge #45 ~ Walls
The word for last week’s Pic and a Word Challenge #45 was Walls, along with this photograph of families and donkey carts gathering for market in Kuche, China.

Two lovely responses this week. Thank you! =)