Chinese Desert Song

her lips are rough,

the moon lights a path in these wastes,

she and I aflight on hooves,

drumming on the apathetic earth,

thunder rolling at a distance,

the city of lanterns a red dream in the distance.

she's a cunning mystic,

and I: a night-wife of the emperor,

terrible to behold, skin of terricotta,

brow as the mountains that follow at our side,

i sleep in their shadow,

i dream in their methods of stone.

we make a low fire, 

the smoke rises conspicuously and we pray,

she feeds black dust to the flames,

and the smoke blends with the night,

once a marble column of banishment,

now a ravensong ascending to t'ien.

the moon reigns as a despot,

she and I take refuge in our tent of spinthread,

azure and starlit,

our lips meet as melodies,

between huquin and hengdi,

she as finely stitched silk, I as the lush river reeds.

our song, however, will never be sung,

for we are the vanishers,

those never to be seen or told of again,

unless it is discussion of the price on our heads,

which will die tomorrow,

for we are worth little to them.

the sun has brandished her skin,

I console it with my hands,

she tapers my hair in the bleak candlelight,

'do you remember when you were young?'

she asks of me, 

demands my eyes meet hers.

i am red as the riverdeeps,

the backlight on eyelids faced toward the sun,

her crane-white hair mixes in mine,

yin and yang, memories of the past fill my mouth,

as her tongue exchanges with mine, telling of stories,

lamplit summers, she perceives my visions.

'is death in our stores?' I ask of her,

beg of her, the oracle masked by ivory flesh,

she nods a yes, holding a small silver box,

'but this is the fate of all men, 

and we shall not die alone',

we wrote of our love that night on living canvases.

we recite many proverbs as the sun breaks the sky,

advent of dynasties livened by light,

riding onward to the darkest corners of the world,

hoping to drift into obscurity,

saving the silver box covenant for a day far from here,

on a road smooth and solemn, where all fears have fallen to the course of time.

Author's Note

I wrote this after attending a shakuhachi concert performed by two members of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble. One of the songs seemed to speak of this to me... almost as if uttering a secret hidden in song. This is what the shakuhachi sang to me, though I'm sure others were gifted with different secrets.

Yes, I know the shakuhachi is a Japanese instrument, so I used a close Chinese equivalent in the poem and yes, I speak Mandarin Chinese, but I chose to write this in English to allow for more people to read what was whispered to me that night. I can't really explain what happened, though I think the player was Chinese so that may be where that energy came from...

The photo I used is not mine and I could not contact the owner for permissions. If they find it and ask me to take it down I will immediately oblige, because I take this sort of thing very seriously.

This is my personal favourite out of all of my poetry.

Reviews

[Kristallo]

Such an enchanting story. There are too many jewels of poetic perfection here for me to recount all the ones that I so adored it- just know that I loved all of it, in all it's dazzling and imaginative entirety. It's hard to choose a favorite of the writing i've read so far, but this is definitely up there. So inspiring and alight with colorful imagery and clever simile. I so enjoyed this one, it's wonderful.

[Alexandria Reece]

I am ecstatic this pleased you to read! You are too kind and I am in your debt for how many kind and wonderful reviews you left. Luckily, your writing is the best, so returning the favour is no chore.. it is something I feverishly want to do anyway for my own selfish reading pleasure! hah!

[zainul]

The story is not so easy for me to understand.
But,I have already completed the first reading.
I vow to understand your personal favourite out of all of your poetry.
Your skillful use of words,metaphors or phrases impressed me.
I hope to return here again at a later date.

[Alexandria Reece]

Thank you so kindly for your compliments, diligence and honesty. If you wish for explanation I am more than willing to help or if you would like it to come to you on your own, that is an excellence in itself. So kind of you to leave such a review as this.

[zainul]

I am very pleased that you have come for my salvation.I welcome your kind help.
In fact,you personally interacted with the affairs described in this poem.Hence you are the most conversant about this.There is no shame in seeking your assistance.

[Alexandria Reece]

Right-o, here we go! If I get too thorough feel free to skim or if I state anything too obvious just roll your eyes at me, hah! These are two women escaping from servitude under the Emperor of China... it's meant to be timeless... anywhere from 700 - 1800 AD. As they escape across the Gobi Desert this details their affinity for one another and their attempt at survival and being inconspicuous to those who may be after them. They understand they are important and their escape is sensational now, but that they will soon be forgotten as the Emperor has many talented entities at his disposal. I play with red, white, and black imagery as a Chinese story's visual aesthetic. If you imagine a white page with black calligraphy and the red seal stamps this is what I am going for with the colour motif. I also wanted to reflect the yin and yang in the hair colours I chose "mixing".

I chose this scene of two skilled and cunning women running off to represent a Chinese song:
- the hooves of the horse as the large, resounding drum
- the more obvious huquin and hengdi, which represent the women directly (a Chinese string instrument and a reed instrument comparable to a shakuhachi).
I have the characters explore love together as a sort of way to express the way those two instruments play off of each other so finely.

Sorry this was so long! :)

[zainul]

I don't mind its length since I have to understand the piece as best as possible.
I have understood most of it now.
Thanks for the patience to be a tutor after writing a long lovely poem.
You can explain the concept of yin and yang too.

[Alexandria Reece]

陰陽 (yin & yang) are directly opposite forces often representing natural dualities that are related and dispersed within each other as in "there is always some light in darkness and some darkness in light" eg. stars in the night sky and shade in the noonish glare of the sun. The symbol is often depicted like this:
http://0.tqn.com/d/taoism/1/0/0/-/-/-/yinYang.gif

That's not the best explanation in the world, but it's a brief overview. It is my pleasure to teach about all things as I am training to become a professor of history! :) I am glad to have brought you understand, I am sure you will do me the same some day with one of your works.

[Alexandria Reece]

brought you some understanding*

[zainul]

Thank you,Generous Professor.
It is a great pleasure to be taught by such an amazing personality.
I will enjoy to explain some hard nut if it really appears uncrackable to you.
Thank you for every thing.

[Alexandria Reece]

My pleasure, sir!

This is one of the writes I must review, and one who catches my eye! As I'm fascinated always, by the Asian culture, and share the blood too, you give it new spirit within your amazing words. I'm a huge Yo-Yo Ma fan too :) funny!

Wonderful work young lady! Keep it up.

E.L.

[Gomer LePoet]

Excellent story. I look forward for more enchanting tales traveled via the Silken Road to be released from the silver box

[I Shred This Cabbage]

it is also my personal favourite out of all your poetry! its magnificent, like you promised :)

she tapers my hair in the bleak candlelight - the best line in a poem of stunning lines :)

[SecretShadow]

pretty.

Wow this is quite a wonderful write.

...such depth and emotional. Very nicely written.