Here on an ornate flying boat
I crouch mindfully
with my back to an enormous zen tree.

The perfect pattern of dead branches
shooting out from beheath lush leaves like lightning
hide the gnarley bag slung over my back on a stick.

With my face hidden deep beneath a tattered paddy hat
I blend into the pattern like a chamelion,
perfectly still,
so that the dragons won't spot me.

A tall slender woman cloaked in white
gradually steers the flying wooden boat
into the docking bay of a floating palace
high above the misty city.

In the enterance
draped in vegitation
hangs a green snake by string.

The white woman transmits a light message,
appearing in my vision like a crystalline screen-

"The snake is blind, though it can smell your fear-
be perfectly calm, and you may pass."