Scarlet Flower Poem by Paul Hartal

The East is Red at the Great Wall.
My heart and soul yearningly-long
For my Scarlet Flower all day long
My love is magenta blood
It burns with crimson flames.

Scarlet, my beautiful beloved
Your dark almond eyes
Glow in tender purity and passion
With balmy warmth and devotion.

And we walk around ancient Xi’an
Kuomintang General Chiang Kai-shek
Was captured here in nineteen thirty six
At the foot of the Hills of Lishan.

Now the camera has another film roll
And you pose for the picture where long ago
Tang Emperor Xuanzong’s concubine
Lady Yang Guifei used to stroll.

The red buttons on your black garment
Wink with joy in the park, enchanted
At the white marble-sculpture:
Backward leant
Lady Yang Guifei steps out naked
From the emerald pool
Of the Huaqing hot springs.

Scarlet, your ebony hair in chignon
Adorns your delicate ivory skin
Oh how graceful is your face, my love.

In the afternoon-light the blue scarf
Beneath your chin playfully converses
With purple magnolia and red roses
And golden chrysanthemums.