A Day in the Life of a Little Water Monster

"Splash, splash, ding-ding-dong..."

Who's tapping a water bell between the rocks?

It's little water monster Qingxi!

She turns splashes into crackling pop rocks, sweetly softening the jagged teeth of the rocks;

She sews little boats from pine needles and water chestnut leaves, carrying tiny fish into green dreams beneath the pine shadows;

And at dusk, she can dye the stream the color of orange soda, turning the little fish into glowing tangerines!

The fifth poem in "Tang Poems for Children." Inspired by Wang Wei's "Qingxi": "I enter the Yellow Flower River, always following the clear stream. It winds with the mountains, turning a thousand times, though the path is less than a hundred li. Its sound clamors among the chaotic rocks; its color lies still beneath the deep pines. Rippling, it floats water chestnuts and water plants; clear and bright, it reflects reeds and rushes. My heart has long been at peace, like this tranquil stream. Let me sit upon a flat rock and fish, and be done with it all."

Theme: Listen to the heartbeat of all things with a little water monster, and love nature with a childlike sense of wonder.