We arrive at Day 540 of the daily poems, in this Chinese Year of the Dragon. Our poet Fiona Clark imagines a fiery courtship.
Woman in the Year of the Dragon
Fiery red dragon,
dancing in the skies.
She grew bold
his hot breath
on the back of her neck
flame in her veins
painted her nails
cherry red,
put on her scarlet silk dress,
sat under
peach trees in
a green park
on the corner
of bustling streets
waiting for her love
drank green tea
and ate sweet,
sticky nian gao.
Lanterns
bobbed
on branches.
Good fortune
flowed with the river
danced into her life
on the tail
of the dragon.
Fiona Clark