Horses as Fierce As Flying Dragons

 by Brett Rutherford

     after Li Yu, Poem 33

Dreams hurt.
Last night I thought
I was back in my palace.
My feet knew every turn
and by-way. Nothing
was changed. Bronzes
and vases and carvings,
all were intact. Fresh
flowers adorned everything.

War drums were sounding.
Chariots flared out
     in every direction,
horses as fierce
     as flying dragons.

The breeze behaved.
The upright flowers
stood at full attention.

Who would have have called
the world that we knew,
too good to be true?