The withered peonies fell from the branches,
Petals of the flowers painted the pathways,
A courtyard full of busy figures sweeping the piles,
A portrait hang inside the Madam's inner quarters,
Three incenses lit up on the altar,
One prayer for the her plump son,
A prayer for her health,
The last prayer for her husband,
She gazed at the front gate of the manor,
Longing to see the shadow of a person,
Another war caused by the man's greed,
Where the citizens are the victims of it,
Afraid of being a widow she softly cried holding the jade beads,
In her other arms laid the crying child.
'Xiao Li, your father will soon come back,
She whispered coaxing his cries,
She lost count of how many times that sentence left her mouth,
All that fueled her hope was this bundle of their conjugal bliss,
'Madam, Madam, A letter arrived!', her spirit lifted,
She hastily ran and looked at the letter in the chambermaid's hands,
With trembling hands she reached for it,
Giving Xiao Li to the care of the maid.
A Golden dragon stamp sealed the contents.
Her heart skipped seeing the emperor's handwriting.
'Yan Ming', the letter was addressed to her;
"Yan Zhou was a valiant man,
A loyal subject and friend,
A loving husband,
The sacrifices he gave for the empire we built,
Will be the blessings I will return to him in the next lifetime,
Fear not, I will take care of your family, in placed of him,
Yan Ming, he died gazing the southern direction,
In his hands, a handkerchief embroidered with peonies,
Was tightly clutched and drenched with his blood,
Wei Hu, was the one who retrieved the handkerchief,
It seemed Yan Zhou left you last words before his soul departed
Yan Ming, please restrain your grief....."
Her knees shook and the tears she strongly kept from falling,
Started to cloud her vision, as each beads of it fell on the paper.
Oh, husband what kind of cruel fate is this,
When it's only been a year since we bowed on the wedding day.
Am I going to be a widow?
Can you bear Xiao Li to grow without a father,
What I do I tell him every time he asked me about you?,
Now, who will I share my worries,
Who will caressed my face with a loving gaze,
Who will watched the peonies with me during the Spring time,
Who will drink the Jasmine teas I will brew,
And every night before sleeping, who will say to me 'I Love You'?,
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This poem was my first attempt on free verse. It was inspired by Fan BingBing's new drama, 'Win the World', where she is playing a role of a widow who became China's wealthiest woman in the time where Emperor Yin Zheng reigned.
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- @Realm_Spirit
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Lost in Thoughts
Poetry"I can't put my finger, To the thoughts that linger, Waiting to be deciphered, In a piece of paper." -@Realm_Spirit These are compilations of...
