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The Bier in the Lake  
by Marge Simon 

Composing his last poem, the Poet, whose name is Wu Fei walks the beach of the great Dongting Lake*. His girlfriend lags behind, picking up wildflowers that catch her eye and putting them in her hair. He pauses, frowning, waiting for her to catch up.

When she reaches him, he gestures to the lake. “Behold the bier, my sweet! It is said that when he heard that the poet Qu Yuan had drowned here, the emperor himself had it placed out there in the lake. People believe that Qu Yuan appears on the bier on a full moon like this one, pining for his unrequited love.” The Wu Fei’s girlfriend claps her hands. How utterly darling!” she exclaims. “Qu Yuan is my favorite poet. He’s much better than you are. I shall swim out and wait for him to appear.” Wu Fei tries to reason with her to no avail. Finally, he leaves her there, disgusted with her flights of fantasy.

Around midnight, the dragon who lives at the bottom of the lake rises up. He licks his lips, opens wide and chomps Wu Fei’s girlfriend into little bits. Several months later, the Wu Fei finishes his poem and dedicates it to Qu Yuan’s dragon.

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*True fact: dragon boat racing is said to have begun on the eastern shores of Dongting Lake as a search for the body of Qu Yuan, the Chu poet (340-278 B.C.), and a dragon-king is said to live at the bottom of the lake.

Fiction © Copyright Marge Simon
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com 

More from Marge Simon:

Cast from Darkness
by Marge Simon and‎ Mary Turzillo

Cast from Darkness is another triumphant collaboration between award-winning Speculative poets, Marge Simon and Mary Turzillo.

The poetry includes themes running the spectrum of the speculative genres and forms ranging from the haiku through many nuances of vere libre to the prose poem.

Available on Amazon!