Attempt At A Poem in the Style of Du Fu
"We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven?—Is he in hell?
That damned, elusive Pimpernel"
- Baroness Emma Orczy
The puddle has swallowed a full moon
The necessary monsoon washed the wild dogs' mess from the path
I'm only airborne for as long as the flame stays alight
Just as well I'm made from fairly tough paper
Colonist species come in on the breeze
Or on the hooves of grazing animals
The gold peals from you ringing belles over the water
Calling up and down
To placate incensed spirits
And request favours
Walking through doorways to forget at my hermitage
I watch the male cats fight in the garden
The prehistoric plants thrive all over the wasteland
Including the pink Bog Pimpernel
Covering the receding water-line
Of a drying pond on dune slacks
These flowers only fully open
When in the sun and air
These flowers are solitary.
And at the end of long stalks,
I want you because you want nothing
I need you because you lack nothing
