In the beginning, sheltered in an egg,
the universe of swirling dark and light
nursed Pán Gû in visceral bliss; each leg
of his formed the cytoskeletal might.
Then, unawares, he stretched, breaking the tight
womb, releasing his self and matrix through time.
He groped for form and grabbed a handful of night
then pushed and heaved, as if in tragic mime,
the heavens from earth, the perfect from deformed rhyme.
And after separating yin2 from yáng3 ,
he laid himself to rest, and his sublime
decay became earth’s visage.  But the pang
of labor is unacknowledged when things opt
to disobey.  In dark light, the apple dropped.

-Tsai

1 Pán Gû, in Chinese mythology, is the creator of the universe.  Like the phrase ‘once upon a time’, the commonly written phrase ‘since the beginning of the world’ or ‘since the creation of the world’, zì chóng Pán Gû kai tian dì actually means since Pan Gu separated (or opened) heaven and earth.

2Yin can mean: the feminine or negative principle in nature; the moon; shade; hidden; sinister; secret; of the nether world.

3 Yâng can mean:  the masculine or positive principle in nature; open; overt; belonging to this world; concerned with living beings.