| O
the thousand rooms of the Forbidden City, |
| its
red walls around imperial courts leading |
| endlessly
into other gigantic marble courts |
| or,
as if by grace or intuition, into one |
| intimate
garden with great pine trees and a small gold |
|
and
blue temple, |
| all
that I've not gone back to. I'm saving them |
| for
you. That labrynth--once of concubines, |
| jewels
and Yellow Emperors where now old women |
| in
gray trousers squat in the shadow of Ming yellow |
|
tile
roofs-- |
| I
keep intact for us. |
| ·
· · |
|
Willis
Barnstone,
My
Daughter Aliki Coming to China |
