Tag Archives: blood

“The River Runs Red” by Yue Fei [w/ Audio]

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Enraged, I lean on the rail as rain ceases.
 I look skyward, and sigh -- then roar.
 My grand legacy has crumbled to dust:
 A journey of thirty years and 8,000 li. 

Young men, don't let regret come with gray hair!
 The shame of Jingkang lingers -- a foul taste
 We Generals must wash from our mouths.
 Let's charge our chariots through Helan Pass
 To feast on the flesh of our foes & drink their blood.
 Only then can we return home with honor.

In Chinese, the poem is entitled 滿江紅 (Man Jiang Hong,) “The Whole River, Red”:

怒髮衝冠，憑欄處，瀟瀟雨歇。
 抬望眼，仰天長嘯，壯懷激烈。
 三十功名塵與土，八千里路雲和月。
 莫等閒白了少年頭，空悲切。
 靖康恥，猶未雪；
 臣子恨，何時滅？
 駕長車踏破賀蘭山缺！
 壯志飢餐胡虜肉，笑談渴飲匈奴血。
 待從頭收拾舊山河，朝天闕。

Have You Seen a Tree Bleed? [Free Verse]

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Have you seen a tree bleed?

Yes. I've seen a tree bleed.

It bled bright red arterial blood...
  or sap --
 
 but not that sticky, very viscous 
  kind of sap that one knows from Maples.

This was the consistency of blood,
  as well as its color. 

It's disconcerting to see
  the scratched bark of a tree
   ooze a fluid so blood-like. 

It makes one question
  one's assumptions,
   such as whether a tree feels:
    a scratch or cut or the nail 
     pounded into its trunk to
     hang something for one's 
      momentary convenience. 

And when I see lover's initials 
 carved into a tree, I now can't help
  but wonder how the lovers would feel
   about the tree's initials being carved 
    into their flesh.