A Mortal Life, Born of One Thought · Stubborn and Foolish by Nature · 09 / 102
Xi Chang Xin · Sick with Longing
The golden duck censer seethes, the pillow is red silk gauze; the eyebrow brush is bewitching. Xun and chi make scant music and cheapen the height of it; feeling shifts, and carving marks into the candle is toil.
A feigned smile, a light reproach at his intent, lays a good night to waste. Empty cup, fallen leaves, a long-legged spider twirled between the fingers; jade dust and silence alike are hard to escape.
Notes—
Jinya: a duck-shaped incense burner, cast in metal;
Hongxiao: thin red silk;
Xun and chi [chí]: xun and chi are both ancient instruments; played together, their sounds answer each other;
Kela: it is said the ancients carved graduations on candles to measure time;
Yang [yáng]: to pretend;
Chen [chēn]: to be angry, to complain;
Xiaoshao [xiāo shāo]: a kind of spider. A slender-bodied, dark brown spider with very long legs, which usually spins its web between the walls of a room; the web was thought to resemble the eight trigrams and to be an omen of good news;
Suiqiong: jade dust.
*This is an original work. If you reproduce it, please credit the original author Guang Zhi Shiyi; any infringement, once discovered, will be pursued for legal liability. In addition, the accompanying image comes from the internet and belongs to the original illustrator Hehewu.