Emperor's Tears Poem by Tsunami HiroshiSu

The emperor had a palace of gold
Precious jewels gilded his very movements
And his garden had flowers that smiled and tinkled
But what everyone remembered about the kingdom of the emperor
Was not his palace
His jewels
Or his garden
But a lowly nightingale
Whose song could make the earth cry

The emperor had never heard the song
Of the nightingale
The courtiers and advisors just shook their heads
When asked
But the lowest maid
Said yes

The emperor ordered that the nightingale be brought to the palace
To sing for the king

And he came
And the emperor sobbed with wonder
When his song swelled
To fill the room
A place inside him was filling up
A place he never knew was empty

He offered the nightingale anything
For his beautiful song
But the nightingale said
"I have seen the emperor's tears,
And that is payment enough."

For a time, the nightingale lived in the palace
And serenaded the emperor and his guests
Every night

But then a gift arrived from another kingdom
It was a nightingale
Made of gold
Bedecked with jewels
And if you wound it in the back
It too sang a song so beautiful
The earth would surely cry

The courtiers loved it and praised its beauty
"Much better than the real one, "
They all agreed

And no one saw the real nightingale leave

Every night the king listened to his golden nightingale
As it trilled the same song
Over and over

But one night it broke
And made no more sound

The emperor was sad and empty
Without the music of the nightingale
So melancholy indeed
His health began to fail

Soon he lay on his deathbed
And he could see Death standing over him even now
"Music, " he whispered

And the nightingale alighted on the window ledge
And the room filled with music
A song so moving it seemed to be alive

Death himself sighed with pleasure and dissolved into the wind
And the emperor was cured

He asked again with tears in his eyes
What he could do for the nightingale
Once again the nightingale replied
"I have seen the emperor's tears,
And that is payment enough."


**Inspired by The Nightingale by Hans Christen Andersen