I.
Her blade was quenched in limestone brine
Its sable haft laced with golden thread.
Atop the palace walls, she treads lightly
In her robe woven thin as cicada's wing
II.
When I saw his children past the silken screen
again-- from atop the cedar crossbeam--perhaps
I should lightly retreat but I lingered still:
until he saw silver ribbons that tied my hair
He (I had thought) unlike those lives I severed
can live to tomorrow (but our gaze had locked!)
III.
A swing, a flash, an unfelt wound-- she moves
with Gansui's fury, and Chunjun's spirit
And softly these shattered visages laid to
a dreamless rest upon her gracious touch.
This poem is largely inspired by the story of a female assassin, Nie Yinniang, in the Tang Dynasty short story collection Chuanqi (The Legends); Her independence and desire for freedom are unparalleled in the story. Yinniang was a truly amazing character in the fiction at the time.
Gansui and Chunjun are two legendary swords said to be owned by the King of Yue, who reigned around the late 5th century B.C.E.