ELEGY III: EMBERS

For Rengoku Kyojuro


O my brother, you now lie here -

Fallen, dead and cold,

Your eyes extinguished of its starlike fire

Heavy and limp under my hold.

Ne'er will you rise again from sleep

Ne'er will I have you here as I weep.


To your pale visage, I quietly gaze

The daylight will no longer touch your face

Your arms will no longer hold me in embrace.

Your lips that used to smile in many ways,

And your eyes that once burned with passion's flames

Are now shut forevermore - sealed away.


O Heavens, mercy, please!

What sorrow his passing has done!

For there is no greater pain to know

Than that of a father burying his son -

And to carry his will and let him go.

O Heavens, I pray, let them both rest in ease.


Kyojuro, my brother; Pillar of Flame

You were gone as sudden as you came,

Yet your memories will never dim;

They will burn in eternal lights,

Everything of you will stay within

And from your ashes, a phoenix will rise.