I want to know why
I began to cry at the sound of your voice
Why you crossed my mind twice as much
Why I began to fall

I.
In cold rains cicadas shrill,
red leaves shaking, drearily still.
At the Hour of Great Waste (sky’s sun-ray laced)
A hundred Li’s away from Tongguan’s lofty gates
We part our ways amongst the barren hills

II.
When I plucked flowers from my crisscrossed hair,
(they were still blooming like yesteryear’s pear)
Your carriage passed by my garden, whips lashed
on your steeds (in golden halters they're restrained).

My Lord you were young, without fear or suspicion,
Could still dance and swirl, or play jewelled zither
I (too young to be your lady) knew not what sorrow is
Had only drank tender tea, picked from last pentad.

III.
Fifty strings on zither play in vain
Thunder cloud brings a sudden rain
At the hour Ying and Yang entwined
Tears rolling, my sight they blind.

Between cups of kisses
He and I put back the pieces
Left by past lovers
Out of caprice
Aborted missions
We carried fissures
Regretting old wishes
He and I swore, no more guises
Only sweet promises
For every sunrise
That blesses our eyes

When I was young  and time was infinite
I was spontaneous,impulsive, impatient.
Now I am older
and life is precious
and timeless becomes time
with an end in sight.
Love becomes more visible.
I am adventurous,
pensive and patient,
riding the next dream
into a timeless future.

If want was water,
I would be drowning, my head under completely
and my oxygen quickly depleting.
If confusion was cold,
My fingers would be numb and I wouldn't even
have a coat to ward off the freezing.
If youth was you,
It would be slipping away by the second,
And I can't get a hold to stop it.
Now,
my air is gone,
I'm shivering to the bone,
and can't keep a hold on.
But, this is only a poem:
I know I'm not suffocating, subzero, or slipping.
But I can't help but feel like the more I write,
the farther I get from reality
and the closer I get to metaphor mortality.

Life is death,
            breath is a tome.

And every step,
          we walk to
  

our carcass in earths grasp.