Crooked Spine

Crooked brick spine controls the nerves of the mountain
where tourists backpack where warriors once patrolled.
Teen, with tousled sun-bleached hair, and
Boston College t-shirt, looks skyward rather
than down. At a camera?

Cameras mounted high patrol now
but for what?
Perhaps to take pictures of those
who feel the need
to inscribe their names on wall
created
two-thousand years ago.

Brinna, Max, Darki, Marc and Mona--
Perhaps it is the only way
they feel their name will survive.

Mu Tian Yu Chang Cheng Park;
access road to tunneled bunkers.
40 deg. 25 min,50sec N by 116 deg 33 min 54 sec E..

Mountains, some sporting caps of snow
rib out in waves fading off to blend with the sky.
Yet near, all is a study in brown:
the palette broken on by tourist reds and greens.

Down the steps, out of place, a jarring reminder
that nothing is sacred anymore,
souvenir vendor hawks caps, water,
beribboned medals: I hiked the Great Wall of China
or some-such.

Children peer between the crenellated battlements
looking down to see wind-twisted scrub and not
invading hoards. Yet now, having humped and hiked across
the mountains, the browns give way to verdant greens.
Walking sticks help prod and push the weary
up yet more of the 3100 stairs.

Hunched up backbone spanning ancient country,
traversed these days by those foreign to its shores
far more than those to whom its history speaks
in day to day languages spoken only in the heart.

Wanderers all, seekers and searchers,
the lost and the found,
the road weary and the energized...
the last great adventure or only the first?

Crooked spined Chinese woman squats down near shaded wall.
Small child, easily a grand or great, sleeps in blanket nest
while the ancient crone spits saliva on dirtied cloth
and cleans another brick.

Prompt for: Feb 9 (Fyn)Subject or Theme:

On Google Earth/Maps, go to a place in China where you can get down to street view and take us on a walk. Suggest Hong Kong or Taiwan as we know you CAN get to street level in those places.. Be descriptive and tell us what you see. Try to find a street name and use it in your poem.
Word(s) to Include: None, but do be extremely descriptive. What is different from where you live and what is the same? (or any derivatives of these words)
Forbidden Word(s): NONE but do describe your scene very well!!! (or any derivatives of these words)
Additional Parameters:
Remember, do not use forbidden words ANYWHERE, including title or the brief description. At least 24 lines.