Riverbank Vegetable Sellers
after Bai Juyi
On the riverbank where the willows lean their branches into the current old women sit with baskets of vegetables and fruits that they have gathered from their gardens or bought from the farmers who come down from the hills to sell their produce the smell of fresh earth and green leaves mingles with the smell of the river and the sound of the water rushing over the stones is a constant accompaniment to their calls and chatter as they sell their wares to the people who come to buy from them
In the late afternoon when the sun begins to set and the light is golden the women pack up their baskets and start to make their way back to their homes their footsteps slow and weary their bodies bent from a day of sitting and their hands rough from handling the earth and the plants
I took from Bai Juyi his focus on the everyday lives of common people and his use of straightforward, unadorned diction to describe the struggles and realities of their lives. I applied this to the humble scene of riverbank vegetable sellers, highlighting their daily struggles and the beauty in their simple, rustic lives.