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First Emperor of China, the man, not the Divine.

Posted by anipani on April 11, 2008 - 08:20
from the ABC set second chance

What matters now Ying Zheng?
You- dead for two millennia
And us – still here? We found them –
Your terracotta companions to an
Everlasting life. Eighth wonder of the world.
They’re here, broken, restored, (removed).
You’re gone. Dust. You got it wrong.
You killed life, even before you died,
Poisoned by your chosen elixir.
A man then, just that, a man
dreaming of immortality, powerless
to sleep easy, moving bedchambers
nightly, to avoid the kill.
A book burner, your weakness stems
from your power, unbearable burdens
being just that- unbearable.
(Confucius told you that)
Pitiful creatures, we men, we women,
pitiful creatures, owning the histories of capture,
tyranny and barbarism.You weren’t the last .
Why did you think you were not of us?
Blood spilling , living, breathing, eating, defecating?
When did you make the leap to Divine?
What despot mind imagines thus?
Runs rivers of quicksilver through grounds
of palaces, built never to be seen?
Hides chariots, and acrobats, steals away
whole constellations, secreting a world
below a world. A toddler, with his lego.
When will we learn? A leader,
must not have his head.

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Comments

HaiAnh | April 11, 2008 - 11:24

Very powerful and forceful poem that is brought to a neat and solid ending. I remember seeing a documentary about his chamber too and it was fascinating, I'm not surprised that it was a springboard for you to write this poem.

The poem has so much energy in it that it feels like you sat and wrote it in one sitting. I think it was one of the Beat poets who defines poetry as a 'transfer of energy from one person to another'. This most definitely feels like this.

The comparison of Ying Zheng to a toddler, immediatly brings him down to a low level. This is also something I think readers relish - I mean the bringing down of historical or policitcal figures to such a level that we are not looking up to them, we can relate to them, but also look down on them. You have achieved this here.

It also has some great lyrical qualities, such as, 'pitiful creatures, we men, we women / pitiful creatures...'

A very energising read, thank you.

anipani | April 11, 2008 - 13:44

thanks for your comments, i like the fact you picked up on how i named him, and the use of Ying Zheng itself was an attempt to distance him from his later, grander names, used by history. i generally write quickly, after thinking for longer periods of time, I like your 'transfer of energy' it's exciting thinking of poetry in that way.

LawOfTheOne | April 11, 2008 - 15:14

Loved this. The last 8 lines or so are brilliant but it's all very good. I'm always intrigued by people who rose to the top; kings, queen, dictators, etc. You captured this very well.