Beast of Empire
Scholar Jinn Enters the Ink Doors and other poems
Photo : Wikimedia Commons
Published:
Taklamakan
Where the thread turns on you,
silk to supine, refuses to weave—
grows sinews to break free
Where Kublai Khan's royal seal
is not accepted—
You must pay a toll to the sinister
and the afreet*
for passage
You say you're a writer—
collecting fears for a king's ear
