Maternal Grandmother (婆婆):

举头望明月

低头思故乡

Watching

from under the gazebo’s golden mantle

dewdrops collecting like secrets

whispered behind painted fans                                                                                

folded away into silk sleeves

spun by sedulous worms

somewhere

a nightingale

chimes its celestial melody

echoing through pendent ears

of willow trees haunted by secrets

rendezvous wrecking dynasties

or maybe just planes plummeting

like comets into the belly of mountains

lovers, mothers, fathers,

daughters, sons,

sighing disappointments

spurning affections

bartering sorrows

forging promises

lilyflower hands concealing callouses

from village looms and harvests

plucked from tender earth

terrestrial treasures stolen by sunlight

embrace blue forests of porcelain

and lift the cup to lips painted

red like mid-autumn lanterns

swallowing the bitter tea like tears