by Brett Rutherford
Legendary and lethal,
the azaleas of Ningpo
cover the hillside, a blaze
of color intoxication.
Legendary and lethal,
the azaleas of Ningpo
cover the hillside, a blaze
of color intoxication.
Goats roaming there,
chewing the blossoms
and leaves, fall down
into a stupor.
chewing the blossoms
and leaves, fall down
into a stupor.
A black vase
topped with a burst
of red azaleas,
pink hearts
of rhododendrons:
a death-warning.
topped with a burst
of red azaleas,
pink hearts
of rhododendrons:
a death-warning.
A medicine as like
to kill as cure,
used sparingly;
to kill as cure,
used sparingly;
a tiger face
not seen amid
the shrubbery;
not seen amid
the shrubbery;
fox-fairy perfume,
the fatal allure
of a woman met
by the road-side;
the fatal allure
of a woman met
by the road-side;
the pain, in exile,
of thinking of home.
of thinking of home.
Beware the azalea!
** This poem cites several Chinese names for the azalea: "thinking of home," "goat-stupeying flower," and "tiger flower."
