Drowned In The Moon's Watery Kiss Poem by Dónall Dempsey

It is so long ago
that nobody knows
(and so)
stories flourish.

It is an 8th century
sky

(the kind you
read about)

amongst the words
of poets.

And so, for centuries
the poet

holds the sky
...just so.

It is the zenith
of the Tang dynasty

some 40 miles
south-west of Nanjing

and Death
has come to visit

a man
who lives a life

of vagobondage.

Both famous &...infamous.

It is said when drunk
he writes startlingly
fast

and his shrill voice
astonishes the words
he writes.

Some believe him
to be

an immortal
banished from Heaven.

The great Yangtze
laughs to hear this.

He is but
a man
a mere maker of words.

The poet
a maiden on each arm
smiles at such
supertious nonsense
& calls
for yet more wine!

Some say
he had been under arrest
& died of grief.

Others say
just of disease

, , , as any man.

But others
love to believe

that drowned in wine
he attempts to cuddle

the moon's
reflection

& drowns
in the Yangtze.

This is how
the poet

a man
who makes words

come true

...would have it.

And how...the story is
told to this...very day.

Lai Bai
forever in his cups

drowned in the moon's
watery kiss.