Maiden Cantata

Reclining on a lounge chair

Staring at the mountain side

Over the bamboo fence I catch faint sights

And distant glimpses

Of the full moon in motion

Wallowing in unequalled beauty

With frequent bouts of ignorant joy

Young children dance and play

Rolling themselves in the sand

Ugly mouths of inspired owls howl endlessly

At sunset

Sounding death knells for crest fallen maidens

Bound hands and feet and mouth

With tattered strips of cloth

Torn away from aging garments of pure cotton

And generous silk

On a final journey towards Hades

The joyous shouts of ecstatic kids

The deafening silence of the night

The beckoning sound of hollowed gongs

And native priests

The fiery howl of the messenger owl

And painful cries of lost maidens

Laid before unknown gods as sacrifice

To do as please

Mix into an unruly concoction

A ghoulish attempt at music making