Foggy moon, bird-calls in the flowers at dawn,
in cold willow branches, orioles trembled on the edge of dream.
The words, “Love Each Other” were written on the pillow,
and heavy incense curled from behind the curtains.

Her emotion had the lucidity of calm waters—
red color came to her cheeks as she smiled!
Back turned to the lamp, she changed her damp nightgown
and asked her lover to gather up her earrings.
Their tears of parting moistened the fragrant quilt,
tenderness of love, fragile as the wings of the cicada!
With silver tongs she stirred the ashes in the brazier
and traced these words: “As Long as the Sky…”
Lanterns hung from each story of the building;
the red railing of the balcony gave on the avenue below.

This was the scene of our love that year—
now I see only a tomb, overgrown with grass.
From the roots of the maples, I hear the whispering of a ghost
bearing the traces of her southern voice.
The stagnant clouds of this woman's soul
have been swept into rain
over a mountain I do not know.