The Emperor’s Poem
POETRY FORMAT, 9 Nov 2015
Mark Frutkin – TRANSCEND Media Service
The iron mountain towers above us
robed in mist, its crags
reach through the clouds into heaven,
a single white waterfall seems
to thread down from the sky
in steps and fragments
and, like the trail behind us,
disappears the way we have come.
I see my lieutenant up ahead
alone on his horse.
He reminds me of myself.
Though I am the greatest emperor
the world has ever known,
the mountain towering above
was here before I came,
will remain when I have gone.
The first heavy rain will obliterate
our footprints and any sign of our passing.
In ten springs, a hundred, a thousand,
this path will remain the signature
of a traveler unknown, and the mist
will continue to swirl and dissipate
like poems breathed on air.
________________________________
From Iron Mountain, Beach Holme Press, copyright 2001, Mark Frutkin.
Mark Frutkin is a Canadian poet and novelist. Web site: www.markfrutkin.com Blog: www.markfrutkin.blogspot.com
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 9 Nov 2015.
Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: The Emperor’s Poem, is included. Thank you.
If you enjoyed this article, please donate to TMS to join the growing list of TMS Supporters.
This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.