An Evolutionary Tale
I am an Italian soprano
Who risked everything
Safety and politics
Health and honor
Just to sing.
In the French court
There is no escaping
The web of social politics.
If you do not please power
Dire consequences follow.
Love was my undoing.
He was a mercenary
And I was homesick.
A diamond love began
That refuses to crumble.
Dirt floors,coughing,
Rotting wood, fever stench
Replace sculpted white walls
Thick red velvet curtains
Tinkling china, chattering voices.
I am a Victorian heiress.
My mind is easily bored.
I surround myself with artists
Poets, painters, essayists,
Scientists, scholars.
My hair grows gray.
I have never really loved.
All I hold is empty knowledge.
I'm comforted by upright rules.
I grow rigid and unkind.
My deepest desire
Is to live in Asia
Talking to mountain philosophers
Drinking tea, wrapped in silks
Watching cranes on a lake.
I am a Chinese girl.
I have a talent for dreams.
Soon I am placed with teachers
Who strictly guide me in wise ways.
But youth prevails over wisdom.
My breasts hang like fruit;
My hair a black silk waterfall.
He was a traveling tinker.
I felt his eyes before I saw him.
He ignites the fire below.
We wander off into the pines.
I am betrayed by desire.
How strange to feel
That the knife is cold
And then to feel nothing.
I am a queen, consort to the moon.
I reflect my lover's light.
There are many adoring followers
But my own light is lacking.
I am too proud, no compassion.
I am fragile again.
I choose an imperfect beauty.
I fear a second lust murder.
Compassion comes more naturally.
I still struggle with self and pride.
This time I do not stifle passion.
The love energy is the strongest
I have ever experienced.
But I get obsessed, unbalanced.
Fortunately, I have help on the journey.
I waited until youthful fire
Simmered into a calm flame
Before the dream travel this time.
Rigid rules are splintered.
I sing for a while and I write.
I am a ball of rainbow light,
Pure joy and pure love.
With a laugh I burst
Into a million pieces of energy
Intermixing with everyone, everything.
I am everything.
I am nothing.
I am fragile.
I am indestructible.
I am me and I am you.
I am at the beginning.
I am at the end.
There is no time,
Only the humming truth,
Beauty, love, joy.
Who risked everything
Safety and politics
Health and honor
Just to sing.
In the French court
There is no escaping
The web of social politics.
If you do not please power
Dire consequences follow.
Love was my undoing.
He was a mercenary
And I was homesick.
A diamond love began
That refuses to crumble.
Dirt floors,coughing,
Rotting wood, fever stench
Replace sculpted white walls
Thick red velvet curtains
Tinkling china, chattering voices.
I am a Victorian heiress.
My mind is easily bored.
I surround myself with artists
Poets, painters, essayists,
Scientists, scholars.
My hair grows gray.
I have never really loved.
All I hold is empty knowledge.
I'm comforted by upright rules.
I grow rigid and unkind.
My deepest desire
Is to live in Asia
Talking to mountain philosophers
Drinking tea, wrapped in silks
Watching cranes on a lake.
I am a Chinese girl.
I have a talent for dreams.
Soon I am placed with teachers
Who strictly guide me in wise ways.
But youth prevails over wisdom.
My breasts hang like fruit;
My hair a black silk waterfall.
He was a traveling tinker.
I felt his eyes before I saw him.
He ignites the fire below.
We wander off into the pines.
I am betrayed by desire.
How strange to feel
That the knife is cold
And then to feel nothing.
I am a queen, consort to the moon.
I reflect my lover's light.
There are many adoring followers
But my own light is lacking.
I am too proud, no compassion.
I am fragile again.
I choose an imperfect beauty.
I fear a second lust murder.
Compassion comes more naturally.
I still struggle with self and pride.
This time I do not stifle passion.
The love energy is the strongest
I have ever experienced.
But I get obsessed, unbalanced.
Fortunately, I have help on the journey.
I waited until youthful fire
Simmered into a calm flame
Before the dream travel this time.
Rigid rules are splintered.
I sing for a while and I write.
I am a ball of rainbow light,
Pure joy and pure love.
With a laugh I burst
Into a million pieces of energy
Intermixing with everyone, everything.
I am everything.
I am nothing.
I am fragile.
I am indestructible.
I am me and I am you.
I am at the beginning.
I am at the end.
There is no time,
Only the humming truth,
Beauty, love, joy.