![\"Tcitp_d318_chinese_funeral_processions\"](\"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Tcitp_d318_chinese_funeral_processions-731x1024.jpg\")
\nI enter the courtyard;
\nthere are others here,
\nhuddled over earthenware pots
\nand makeshift chimneys.<\/p>\n
\nI enter the courtyard;
\nthere are others here,
\nhuddled over earthenware pots
\nand makeshift chimneys.<\/p>\n
The night is warm,
\nthe air damp with the scent
\nof wood smoke
\nand the echo of a thousand prayers.<\/p>\n
I take the bowl I carry with me,
\na bowl from which my brother
\nate his meals,
\nand place it on the ground.<\/p>\n
In this bowl I arrange
\na handful of wooden matchsticks
\njust so,
\nleaving one to light the fire.<\/p>\n
At last, I sit.
\nThe flames turn blond wood to brown.
\nI take the first wad of paper
\nfrom my pocket,<\/p>\n
rice paper
\ncoarse to the touch,
\nexcept where there is smooth foil
\nin the shape of gold bars.<\/p>\n
I speak to the higher gods,
\nI tell them my brother’s name,
\nI place the wad of paper
\nloosely on the fire.<\/p>\n
My brother gambled with his life
\nand lost,
\nhe left a wife and children,
\nan unpaid debt.<\/p>\n
He also left an emptiness
\nin the hearts of those who loved him,
\na vacuum in the spaces
\nhe once occupied.<\/p>\n
It is now upon me to save him,
\nto get him the money he needs
\nto get by on the other side,
\nmay he use it wisely.<\/p>\n
When the first wad burns away
\nI place another then another,
\nuntil my pockets are empty
\nand only embers remain.<\/p>\n
I thank the higher gods,
\ntip the ashes onto the ground,
\nthen stamp them cold
\nwith the sole of my shoe.<\/p>\n
Perhaps my brother
\nwill buy his family
\na little luck,
\na streak of good fortune.<\/p>\n
I leave the courtyard,
\nbut I’ll be back next month
\nand the month after,
\nand the month after that.<\/p>\n
For mine is a debt
\nthat cannot be repaid as easily
\nin this lifetime,
\nor even the next.<\/p>\n
My brother and I fought,
\nuntil separate paths gave us
\nthe excuse we needed
\nnot to speak.<\/p>\n
I gambled my brother and I
\nwould one day be close.
\nI lost,
\nand the distance has never been so great.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I enter the courtyard; there are others here, huddled over earthenware pots and makeshift chimneys. The night is warm, the air damp with the scent of wood smoke and the echo of a thousand prayers. I take the bowl I carry with me, a bowl from which my brother ate his meals, and place it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1374"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1376,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1374\/revisions\/1376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}