Poem: "going to the ocean"

This poem came out of the December 7, 2010 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired and sponsored by marina_bonomi.  It belongs to the series The Origami Mage.

origami mage
tired from her long journey
goes to the ocean
to the temple of Mazu
and bows to the statues there:

Mazu in jeweled robes,
Thousand Miles Eye in red
with his two sharp horns
and With-the-Wind Ear in green
holding his single horn high.

origami mage
thinks of her vanquished rival,
kirigami mage,
dragging herself down the trail
still determined to follow

"Tell me, Grandmother,"
she prays, dropping to her knees,
"how you learned the trick
of turning your enemies
into loyal guardians."