Arrow
Mary Soon Lee
Late April,
hills overrun
with flowering
azaleas--
pink, white, red, magenta--
the air bright
with their scent,
King Xau's mood dark
as December.
He galloped
past his guards.
Li, his captain,
shouted,
but Xau
kept riding. He would spend this day,
this one day as
far away as possible
from the relentless
matchmakers
and their wares:
flirts, flatterers, coquettes,
twelve-year-old girls
with painted faces.
An onslaught of
replacement wives
who couldn't replace
Shazia.
Air bright
with the fragrance of
flowers,
his horse
crested a hill, and there, below him,
galloping
on a gray horse, an archer:
black hair
beaded, braided,
riding away from Xau,
bow in hand.
Xau halted
as the rider arced
round,
black braid
swinging as she--
demonstrably, conspicuously female,
full breasts
rounding her chest guard--
loosed an arrow. A hawk
fell.
Dead.
One arrow, double duty.
Xau as stricken as the hawk.
Poet's Notes: This is part of The Sign of the
Dragon, my epic fantasy in verse. It takes place nearly a year after the
death of King Xau's first wife, Shazia. King Xau is still in his twenties and
under pressure to make a politically advantageous second marriage. Xau almost
always puts the good of his kingdom ahead of himself--but not this time. After
seeing the woman in this poem, he pursues her even though she is by no means an
appropriate choice. More poems from The
Sign of the Dragon may be read at www.thesignofthedragon.com.
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