The Passing of Zi Zhen 子真之逝

#HistoricalFiction #ShangDynasty #China c. 1040 BCE
Reign of Di Xin of Shang
#Wss366 Railing #WritersCoffeeClub April 2: Visual presentation

Daji watched from the #railing of the Peacock Terrace. Below, the fire cast a ruddy tint on her fair features. Incense hid the scent of heated bronze.

Below her, Zi Zhen passed
     hands bound
         casting an imploring look up at her.

She smiled, reciting:

          Dongting
          Reflection glories
          Humble carp
          In evening dimming
          Gasps not singing [Note 1]

Note 1: The humble man, mistaking passing glory for reality, in the end dies as he was born

Commentary: Daji was the favorite consort of Di Xin of Shang the last Emperor of the Shang dynasty (Reign 1075–1046 BCE). Legend has it that Daji delighted in executions carried out with a pào lào (roasting pillar). The condemned person was forced to embrace a bronze tube filled with coals. Zi Zhen is a fictional character.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #和歌 #WakaPoetry #NMPoetry #桜 #poetry #History #ChineseHistory

••⋅☾#和歌 ☽⋅••

Blossoms fall
On verdant carpet
Days beauty
Wind swept ebbs
The passing tides

••⋅☾#WakaPoetry☽⋅••

#Photography
#マストドン写真部 #写真
#urbanphotography #NMPhoto #Seattle #UrbanLife #Bloomscrolling #Spring #FlowerViewing #花見 #桜 #poetry #詩 #Haiga #俳画 #NMPoetry #PoetryOnTheFly #Sakura

The snow is melting on contact, but the early plum and sakura are having a hard time keeping up with our seesawing weather.

••⋅☾#和歌 ☽⋅••

Beaten plum
Bedraggled Spring
Snow melt
On fragile delight
All softly falling

••⋅☾#WakaPoetry☽⋅••

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#マストドン写真部 #写真
#urbanphotography #都市写真
#Spring #Plum #Rain #NMPoetry #FloweViewing
#春 #梅 #花見 #雨

#WritersCoffeeClub 1/11. Name a poem (or poet!) which has influenced you.

I write classical waka because of: Murasaki Shikibu

•───⋅☾#和歌 ☽⋅───•
Heian flower
Vanished bloom
Noble heart
Inkstone Washi
Living again

#WakaPoetry #ShortPoem #NMWCC #NMPrompts #PoetryOnTheFly #NMPoetry #NMPoetry

Lest the Moon Blushes 月も赤らむほどに Part 1

#Wss366 #PIXIVCharitySanta

"Let's see what you remember," Maiyoi told Shishi.

Maiyoi was in her part-human form, complete with cute, fluffy ears and three tails. She wore her signature purple kimono adorned with stars and comets.

They were outside Maiyoi’s new shrine. When the kitsune saw it for the first time, her initial reaction was, “Just wait until Ota-san hears about this! In time, he’ll understand.”

Between that and being reunited with Shishi—as her student, no less—she was still beaming.

She removed a fox skull from her kimono and held it out to Shishi.

Shishi refused it with a smile. "You'll be so proud. Just watch." She closed her eyes, concentrated, and her form began melting. As she shrank, her hair first turned a mild ginger and then a rich golden amber. It ran down her back and arms, replacing the warm clothes she was wearing. Her face became pointed, and sharp teeth replaced her normal ones. Before long, a fox stood in the moonlight where a human had stood.

Maiyoi clapped, capering around the transformed girl.

          Bondage shy
          Russet leaves fly
          Wilderness
          A moonlit sky
          My kit and I

Having shown what she could do, the fox began morphing again. This time, she became a human with fluffy ears to match her friends' and a single bushy tail.

Maiyoi grabbed her hands and, still dancing, sang:

          Sister dear
          The moon quite pale
          Sakara tints hales

Not to be outdone, Shishi finished the katauta:

          Sensei love
          Swallow proud
          Now, to you, bows

Maiyoi switched back to prose, still gushing. "The moon should blush at my student's skill. To think the swallow mastered that so quickly! Should we move on to possession or something easier, like making kitsune gold?"

[Continued in next post]

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Kitsune #Otherkin #WakaPoetry

狐、弟子をほむ

Kitsune in praise of her disciple

•───⋅☾#和歌 ☽⋅───•
          Bondage shy
          Russet leaves fly
          Wilderness
          A moonlit sky
          My kit and I

#Kitsune #WakaPoetry #ShortPoem #Fox #狐 #HiakuFeels #NMPoetry

For Harry Trueman

•─────⋅☾#和歌 ☽⋅─────•

A buckle
Now lost in time
Vague memory
A gift from a brother
He to vague memory

•────⋅☾#Waka☽⋅─────•
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