Work Text:
*
The revolution begins not with a battle cry
but a birdsong
I am the cuckoo in your nest.
*
The bench is mine now
did she think I would yield?
In the end
the only culpability will be hers
Underneath my brace are folded wings
and fangs waiting to strike
the crown will fall before I do
a dragon never yields
*
To think, her own family
drawn into this web
and yet order will splinter
should the crown fall
O Holy Mother, forgive my hubris
forgive these sins
I am no gallant knight
only a putrid pawn
*
The sword pushed through
the weakness unseen
such putrid foolishness
my armor all fallen away
a tattoo hidden underneath
the dragon yields
*
I never said goodbye
held back by my putrid cowardice
my sacrifice was a fangless dragon
with clipped wings
each breath is
a thousand regrets
*
She will live
I remind myself
I betray to save
the knife is held in trembling hands
A thousand prayers and my soul
does not know peace
*
The red prayer flags were the same shade
as the stained scaffolds
as they flapped above the spring snow
I lifted up a prayer for forgiveness
may the Holy Mother have mercy on their soul
and mine
*
In other countries I search for
my blood
my honor
sometimes in foreign hotels I almost
remember to breathe
*
When you smiled, I felt the winter thaw
inside me
you speak of scientific wonder and
things unseen
I cannot help but
listen
*
Once a brother, once a friend,
I face you now
if you were to look to my face you would see
nothing left
no trace of the almost river drowning
no trace of what was
*
Had I seen an apparition there in red?
I saw nothing across his face
there was no prayer on his lips
no memories of rivers
do you even remember those
sunny days?
*
That smile is a ghost
a reflection in ice
I put on my vestments and try not to think
of what once was
what could have been
*
The Holy Mother tested my patience
five layovers and three hours in line
but fruits of my waiting
are a deliciousness I had never known
she laughed at my surprise
and I thought
I would wait as many hours as this earth has
just to hear her again
*
The sunlight seems warmer here
or is it just her?
her eyes light up when she speaks of wonders
I almost know what it is to live again
*
I must keep her beside me
even across the seas
the addictive feeling
like a sinner I crave her presence at any cost
Oh Holy Mother
let the queen not see
what everyone else has already glimpsed
*
I hung the prayer flags high
there were too many unanswered prayers to fit the folds
I had to hang many more to fit
her name was across every one
*
I pass by the princess with a bowed head
her eyes are uncomprehending
I am a cipher to
my own blood
as we struggle in the web
we only tangle more.
*
Choose now
which of us will die in this web?
which will feel the spider's bite
tonight?
I take the blade given to me
and choose which life to take
at night I dream of the blade
against my own throat
*
My father
do you hate the face that stares back at you?
Reaper to the scaffold
I am the hangman of my own family
The knife to your back
is for them
Would you not do the same?
*
In the storm
a birdsong
a droplet of hope
that I dare not believe
you fought for us
and broke the ties of fate
my brother
you were always made to break the impossible
*
Green-eyed I admit
in the end
it was you who took on his mantle
not I
were you the favorite of father
after all?
*
Two brothers face each other again
as the pieces of Khura'in are mended
tell me
have you forgotten your prayers all these years?
We have a thousand's summers to
catch up on
*
I cannot speak the words
so I say Khura'in has need of you.
when it is I
who needs you
*
My inkwell has gone dry from all the poems written for you
one day I will send them
until then
may my prayers reach a thousand heavens
*
A butterfly's wings soars above the new crown
for the first time in years
I breathe again