Vox Populi

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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

Sculpture by Ledelle Moe. Photograph by Doug Anderson.

3 comments on “Doug Anderson: Green Fire

  1. Patricia A. Nugent
    September 10, 2020

    Like Pilate’s dream…

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Barbara Huntington
    September 10, 2020

    Powerful poem. Thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. loranneke
    September 10, 2020

    A haunting poem. (May such nightmares haunt the malevolent today…)

    Liked by 1 person

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This entry was posted on September 10, 2020 by in Poetry, War and Peace and tagged , , .

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