Judgment
Mary Soon Lee
King Xau rode,
wounded, worn out,
harrowed,
from war toward peace
negotiations,
rode with his ally King
Memnor,
likewise wounded, weary,
the two kings managing
thirty or forty miles
before their surgeons
ordered
a halt for the day.
Swifter by far,
riding to intercept Xau,
rode Hana, his queen.
Rode from dawn to dusk,
a hundred and ten miles a
day,
changing mounts at every
way station,
her guards struggling
to match her endurance.
Rode armed with bow and
knife
and the knowledge
that Xau would prize
each hour she gained with
him.
Later,
no historian would note
Hana's ride,
judging it incidental,
inconsequential.
Xau,
seeing the riders' rapid
approach,
not allowing himself
to believe Hana had come
until he could make out her
features--
his heart speeding
as he sped his horse toward
her--
dismounting awkwardly,
leg stabbing with pain,
unsteady,
holding onto his horse
one-handed,
reaching for her with the
other--
judged differently.
Poet's Notes: This is part of The Sign of the
Dragon, my epic fantasy in verse. The hero, King Xau, confronts many
trials: wars, assassination attempts, natural disasters, a demon, and a
monster. Widowed when he is still young, Xau falls in love with Hana and
pursues her ... which leads in turn to further trials and tribulations, but
also, as in this poem, to joy.
An earlier poem about Hana,
"The Ride," is included on the webpage for The Sign of the Dragon at www.thesignofthedragon.com.
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