An ancient monk
wears heavy wooden prayer beads
looped about his neck, koa or woodrose.
White-robed, he is sworn to protect local
villagers from demons. More than a few–
a snow queen, and a troupe of viral bats,
victim’s heads dangling
from necks like spent cherry blossoms, hissing
foxes that split trees wide open,
but the great master zaps them all
unprepared for what comes next–
a white serpent that slithers across the floor
fingering her emptiness, until one day,
Su-Su spots an herbalist on her mountainside.
She snake charms the good man to become his wife,
helps him brew herbs to combat a disease
that chars villagers into sticks of ash.
The monk finds out
Su-Su is placing
a bit of herself into every brown bottle,
which is why the medicine
is making her husband a household name.
The monk screams:
Su-Su is upsetting the order of things, dangerous
when demons have relationships with humans.
It ends badly. One last kiss before
Su-su’s entombed for eternity.
The healer drifts away on a clot of earth.