I dreamed about the ancient land

By X. Z. Shao

I dreamed about the ancient land

when kingdoms vied for dominance.
An image developed in a grassy slope
which makes every heart ache for love.
She held her skirt and ran wild
and threw herself down under a maple tree.
In her hand were some bamboo slips;
she read them and was possessed by ecstasy
She rolled around propped her head with her hands
and pondered with mysterious smile. 
Her waist was tender,
her upper part bore ripen fruits,
her hip lay like a hill’s graceful curve.
It was said when she glanced,
a city would fall;
a kingdom would be brought low
when she glanced again.
She enamored an arrogant king;
a nation of wealth was for her to squander,
yet, her heart was never tamed.
Who knew what was written on the slips.
when the city was on flame
and the king’s head was hung in the marketplace,
was she killed by an arrow piercing her chest
or, attaining immortality as her beauty does,
She still rides a boat on a mystical lake with her love.

                    Morning, October 4, 2010