Poem: "tired traveler, busy city"

[ysabetwordsmith]

I'm catching up on the Origami Mage series.  All the written poems have been listed on the series page, so you can see where I've filled in gaps in the storyline.  Now I'm posting some poems that were sponsored earlier.

This poem came out of the January 4, 2011 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by siege and sponsored by marina_bonomi.

tired traveler, busy city

kirigami mage
stumbles into the city
already weary

she wants nothing more
than a place to lie down and
a little food

kirigami mage
helps the cripple on his crutch
to cross the thin bridge

in the hot, fierce sun
a bare-chested veteran
shares his fan with her

kirigami mage
waves to a boy with flowers
whose song lifts her heart

she fills a dry trough
for the drummer and his mule
and hears their brayed thanks

kirigami mage
buys peaches from a girl who
plays a reed-organ

then she steps aside
to make way for a scholar
whisking away flies

kirigami mage
applauds a flute-player, then
sips wine from his gourd

at the palace gates
stands a man with jade tablets --
she is not bound there

kirigami mage
finally reaches an inn
and falls into bed

all through the long day
she has cut nothing apart,
made no point or fold

kirigami mage
thinks about her rival for
the first time that day

where could she be now,
origami mage, always
so, so far ahead?

kirigami mage
is tired of the fighting
but dares tell no one

* * *

Notes:

The Eight Immortals are figures from Chinese mythology.

Comments

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