Penultimate Day
written by: Hongli Zhao
Tranquility overwhelmed me,
I was hungry and thirsty.
But my nourishment was not the Flesh and Blood.
A feather ell from the Heavens,
Dancing along the beams of the scorching sunlight.
There was a puddle beneath a pine tree on my path.
I observed on, but I did not flinch.
Closer, it was closer,
I counted the remaining steps,
As if it was the Second Day.
I looked back and turned my shoulders,
The sky was dark grey.
I rehearsed my harmony,
My ticket to eternity.
The merchant whose complexion I did not recognize,
Reached out his hands,
“Ascend! Once and for all!”
Panting, I marched on.
Once I was a craftsman,
And smelted iron and steel.
On the Penultimate Day,
I was none but a butterfly.
A butterfly was none but myself.
A dandelion felt the breeze,
And chose to detach from its stem.
I stopped,
For I was engulfed by whiteness.
- Invariance - November 22, 2023
- Penultimate Day - August 24, 2023
