Anecdote of Men by the Thousand

The soul, he said, is composed Of the external world. There are men of the East, he said, Who are the East. There are men of a province Who are that province There are men of a valley Who are that valley. There are men whose words Are as natural sounds Of their places As the cackle of toucans In the place of toucans. The mandoline is the instrument Of a place. Are there mandolines of western mountains? Are there mandolines of northern moonlight? The dress of a woman of Lhassa, In its place, Is an invisible element of that place Made visible.