Doug Anderson: Green Fire

The emperor’s guard killed everyone 
in their path, on the way
to conquer the Yue,
even the weak defenseless. 
They came to a hut in the mountains
where an old couple lived.
The captain asked them,
what do you do to please
the emperor, and laughed.
The old man answered, 
his eyes down, I write poems
and my wife carves jade. 
The captain laughed again
and nodded to a soldier
who crushed the old 
couple’s heads with a mace.
When the captain got old
and sick, he had the same
nightmare every night:
He opened ceremonial jars
that began to speak poems, 
and his hands burned with green fire.

Copyright 2020 Doug Anderson