Historical Maps

In a pavilion facing misty peaks and river islands, a low table holds an unrolled map drawing the terrain with mountain shapes, walled towns and winding rivers, its roller still partly furled at one end, beside a round bronze piece with a ring handle and a brush on a rest, with a woven rush cushion before the table. Mountains and rivers on paper, set against those beyond the window, evoke the breadth of old maps that charted the realm.