This poem fulfilled the creative writing portion of my final project in ART 1001, which I took in the spring of 2004. Through writing this, I was able to pay homage to the creators of this work, both of the ancient poem, and of the more recently created sculpture.

An infinity of songs lie within,
The essence of Earth condensed into stone,
The jade boulder of an ancient mountain,
A gift from heaven the emperor is shown.

A story passed down from long, long ago,
Of the great men who gathered at Lan Ting,
Through love and wisdom to us they did show,
A way of living in peace with all things.

The jade masters' mission is perfectly clear,
Since only one song can be brought out from it,
The poem is what will help them to hear,
The rhythms of life contained inside it.

The artists will work like a great river flows,
Following the one divine imagining,
Eroding the stone as the desert wind blows,
Slowly the mountain will begin to sing.

Joyful life energy radiates outward,
Through every person, leaf, line, rock, and tree,
Now the message of peace is there to be heard,
A vision of grace for the whole world to see.