It is believed that the Chinese accidentally stumbled upon gunpowder as a propellant and an explosive when they were experimenting with its medicinal properties.
In its earliest forms, gunpowder was being used to treat maladies and it was believed to be a major component to the elixir of life; by mixing it with other concoctions, the Chinese believed they could produce a substance that would grant eternal life.
Like all experiments on the edge, something beautiful emerged, but it was a type of beauty that only emerges under great pressure and strain.
Like water, shaped in the right way, gunpowder can punch holes in obstacles, and it can brighten up the night sky.
Without dark there is no light.
Without energy there is no silence.
Art emerges in moments of stark experimental opposition.
Allow it.
Peace.
for Max Gail, Omakasea, Master Chef for what has been, what is, and what will become.