Word Painting
On the road from Zhongwei to the airport, going to describe as much of what I see out the window as possible:
Women in visors walking in a field collecting something, putting in small plastic bags. Big red travel bus. Arch over entry driveway made of steel beams, diamond replica at apex, stone sculpture outside. Man on motorcycle. Main street of small town.
Large brown dirt field filled with power lines. One story brick lots, with broken windows, some with bamboo doors. Irrigated field with crops. Blue truck with open bed, contents covered by tarp. Modern SUV. Woman holding baby outside doorway, next to drying laundry.
Girl in yellow uniform sweeping lot of gas station with large primitive broom. Corn field. Woman riding bicycle with boy sitting on backseat.
White wall with phone numbers spray painted on in red. Road is turning shitty, van bouncing alot. Small brick hovels, probably living quarters for farmers.
Several yards filled with bags of fruits or vegetables, stacked head high. Police car. Man on motorbike with wicker basket on back. Iron bars on windows. Corn fields. Man in sportcoat holding baby. Women with red and pink head scarves. Men on motorbikes carrying platters of cement blocks. Skinny trees with white bark.
Police in uniform wearing hat, smiling, talking on cell phone. Billboard with photo of green field and blue sky. Bus shelter without walls. Row of shops with Western style balcony, Greek architectural column-reliefs. Canal. Several eighteen-wheelers parked outside empty shop-like place.
Woman in body suit, wearing face mask, carrying shovel. Parked dump trucks. Two and three story buildings with basement garage/shop front. Motorbikes parked outside shop filled with glass panels. Completely empty row of shop space with glass doors. Men and women in orange vests, facemasks, digging hole. Fields of yellow grassy plant. Mud and brick hovel. Numbers spray painted on overpass.
The blue sky poking through clouds, opening up. First time sighting in several days. Road sign for Yinchuan and Guzhong?
Girl face down on pavement, next to overturned motorbike, blood and brains splattered on road, teeth fallen out, dead.
Jesus Christ. Cars passing by as if she wasn’t there.
And then the blue sky, leaves on trees in cornfield reflecting sunshine. Maybe heaven for her. Now a field of dandelions.