Yuurei

Yuurei ● 幽霊

Deathly gloom engulfs
The wild grasses.
The far stretched plain-
Emblazoned in darkness,
Haunts the sky.
Wayward, eerie clouds,
Wade about;
The wind relentlessly,
Stirs up fear.
The grasses sway creepily-
In the dance of death.

Green, amber-
The bogs are illumined by
The lantern and the ghoul.
The phantom's lamp,
Casts its spell of doom.
The misty woman wades about,
The night air doesn't veil her form.
The shroud and it's dead sleeves;
The flowing black hair;
The menacing misty trail;
And the deathly pale eyes.

Aeons ago,
She passed through this very plain.
Two carriages,
And lamps with paper shades.
Splendid parcels and attendants
In the first.
She and the nobleman
In the second.
With mirth-
He recounted-
How he spied on her,
Through a gap in the fence.
How he tore off his hem,
And penned down his love.
How wondrously,
The moon shone
On their sleeves,
In the jewelled pavilion.
How gracefully,
Did the plum blossoms
Sway in full bloom.
Her beauty drew him closer-
Through the lacquered bamboo slits.

Yet, his heart was in disarray
As were his sleeves.
He lamented that-
He would have have to
Leave for the eastern provinces.
Yet, he regretted it less;
For he was filled with
Thoughts of fringed pink carnations
To the east of the Sumida river.
Despite her devotion,
His fickleness outshone him.
The couple exchanged cups of saké...
And into a deep slumber she fell.

She opened her eyes
And found herself,
On a bed of dew soaked grass,
Facing the sky with wisps of grey.
Her sash was undone,
And her lacquered clogs were gone.
Coming back to her senses,
Loudly did she scream-
A scream which stuns the air.
A damp bed of grass
And a cold wet
Was all she got for her undying love.
She gasped-
Wishing to wake herself
From this terrifying dream.
But alas! Fate played cruel.
Once again,
Did she fall into a slumber-
Never to rise again.

The dust flies about-
Darkness shoves
The grass laid plain
Into the realm of horror.
A light rain ensures;
Thunder years apart the sky.
A ghoulish, silent
Scream of terror
Wafts by the man's mind.
A straw hat,
And a straw coat;
Tattered sleeves,
Fly about in despair.
The cold wind
Pries into the depths of his mind-
A mind filled with fear.
He dashes about-
Runs among the
Devilishly swaying grasses.
The storm rages on, fierce.
And his mind-
Gets slaughtered by despair.

A bolt of lightning,
Tears up the clouds;
The grasses of the plain
Sway about in a macabre dance.
Lamenting his fate
He remarks-
"Our world is shrouded by a veil,
A veil that shields us,
From the wickedness of the unknown
And horrors of the incomprehensible.
Devils and deities;
Demons and tricksters;
The holy and unholy,
Are everywhere, unseen by mortals.
But the veil grows thinner,
As the night grows darker.
They walk about the mortal realm,
They inhabit mountains and islands-
Bridges and brooks;
Inside our houses and shrines,
Above in the firmament,
And below in the seas...
The apparition of darkness,
Brings them closer to the mortal world,
And things unheard of-
Might exist... "

The man with a straw coat
And a straw hat,
Wearily trods along his fate,
Amongst grasses in a storm.
Then!
It dawns on him-
His thoughts weren't his
As it seemed to be...
A voice out of the air
Might have uttered-
Or did it ??
Incomprehensible were the words,
Yet, he knew them all.
Had his fears been unveiled ?
He stops, dead in his tracks
And witnesses
The dark mist unfolds.
All to be heard is-
A rustle of sleeves,
An evil chuckle,
A swish of robes,
A distant
Scream of angst.
All to be seen is-
The dark mist
Shrouding his thoughts;
A draft of bone chilling air
Hits him in the face.

Crimson robes with pines in gold;
A pair of resolute eyes;
A of lamp burning away-
As was his fate...
"Lord Yuzuki !
The Lady of the third Avenue,
Arrived, to meet you."
He motions her to be send in-
And resumes to meditate
On the lamp's wick, burning away.
The paper door slides apart-
A draft of cold air,
Wafts by his form.
The silence is slaughtered,
By the rustle of silken sleeves.

The man in the dark mist,
Gropes the air in despair,
As the apparition-
Tries to swallow him whole...
A strange green flame,
Hangs about in the air, afar.
He tugs his straw coat,
And dashes towards the light.
Little does he know,
He's lured to the gates of death.
The green wisp of light,
Floats resolutely in the air;
Unstirred by the storm's fury,
And unfortunately is the man-
Who chases after it.
The icy hands grab his legs
And pull him down-
To his doom.

The woman
Slides shut the door,
And begins to speak-
"My brother, the governor of Mikawa,
Sends Lord Yuzuki his regards.
Now that winter is ebbing away,
And cherry blossoms
Sway in full bloom- "
He rouses himself
Out of his trance, and begins-
"I'm afraid
My sojourn in the capital
Has come to an end.
The rugged provinces,
To the east of Mount Asama,
Once again, are to be my abode."
She puts forward a cup of saké;
"Now that it's time,
I wish you good fortune. "
He sips it down
Still staring at the flame.
Then,
He glances at her white robes;
Her white face;
The mass of dishevelled hair;
The lifeless eyes-
His lips part in a gasp,
His eyes speak horror,
And his baited breath,
Trembles in fear.
"You aren't-
The Lady of the third Avenue !!! "
She smirks-
"My sleeves,
Are still wet
From the dew drenched grass.
And now that you've drunk the saké... "
He tries to flee-
But the flame goes out.

There is nothing to be seen,
And the storm rages on.