Scarlet Night and Lavender Water
Before your feelings were betrayed,
the night was scarlet, and the water lavender.
You flew by the river and she was there no more.
Hibiscus-laden mists faded far away into the mountain.
A morbid sparrow lamented beneath the inclement sky.
The proud boughs from which she has taken so much pleasure
now only left with blighted blossoms, dingy and bleak.
You fumbled through the rye-field.
Your body was trembling, and your mind sober.
The slick aroma of lilac glided across your cloak.
Frolicking bees were seduced by some spectral nectar.
Languid campfire gazed upon the clattering herds,
silhouetted against the undulations of the wretched fjord,
where the receding tides throbbed with songs un-heard.
2004, Singapore
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