Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


LI HUA'S MESSENGER by PETER BETHANIS

First Line: IN A HUT FAR FROM THE VILLAGE
Last Line: UNTIL HE IS FINISHED.
Subject(s): LI HUA (717-768); POETRY & POETS;

In a hut far from the village
Li Hua bends over his canvas
like an insect.

He is so deliberate,
each stroke is a spider's legs
fighting the current.

There is a war in his veins,
a battle of desires.
He is jealous of Li Po
whose pictures glide
like the moon over dark water.

I do not wish
to disturb him
as he tries to make art
in this time of death,

so I will wait,
like a fly on the tip of a stick,
until he is finished.



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