Saturday, October 8, 2011

Glad to Meet You On The Magpie Bridge (A Story Retold)

Does love read the sky?

Can love be calculated by numbers?


Driving  to Best Buy store this evening, seeing red tail lights all over the cars ahead, I noticed car plate numbers, Speed limit signs…

Certainly, human on earth are restricted by calculations.

All of a sudden, one of my favorite childhood stories makes its way to my head…

A long time ago, Seven fairy maiden lives in the fairyland up in the sky, each fairy maiden is unique in her own ways yet, the youngest one, the seventh fairy maiden is of the most mischievous, the most charming, and the most intelligent one.

While she was touring the immortal garden one day, curiosity made her take a look at what’s going on Earth, and she noticed a miserable cowherd, who looked strong and hardworking, yet seemed being bothered by sorrow around him.

With her magical ability, she found out that he is a simple and honest orphan who is making a living on farming, because of high taxes and natural disasters, his farm was ruined and he ended up in debt.

The Seventh Fairy Maiden wants to help him, she descends to earth, and helped the cowherd with everything, including making him a lovely new home, for being his wife.
                                                                                                         
Happiness does not last long, within a few weeks, Empress of the Fairyland found out the truth and ordered troops to take the Seventh Maiden back to Heaven.  On behalf of her six sisters’ help, The Seventh Maiden and Her Husband are only allowed to meet once a year, on the arc of the magpie bridge, on the seventh day of July.
                                                                                               

Above the silky clouds,
Cross the Silver  river,
Comes the weaving maiden.
A moment of rendezvous
sings in the autumn Heaven.
Fantastic joy on earth.
burning passions engage,
Glad to meet you on the magpie bridge.
Eternal love between us two,
A bubble comes true.
364 days a year,
How long time apart
is how much I miss you,
364 sided symmetry,
Each side records my misery,
364 known stars,
Each one lights up my message around Mars,
The number of waiting,
The number of yearning
I count it with understanding,
I measure it with longing.          
Image Credit: google.com on the cowherd and the weaving maiden legacy

15 comments:

  1. def makes for an intersting story...i dont know that i could wait 364 days...i dont know htat absence truly makes the heart grow stronger...

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a sad story of their love separated. A beautiful poem.

    Blessings & Aloha!
    Thank you very much for stopping by my Y post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "A bubble comes true." Ha ha! This is definitely my favorite line. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. the last lines are so touching.

    ReplyDelete
  5. a year measured with longing..counted with understanding...this is touching

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a touching story to read this fine morning..
    I have been one whose love was far away and waited (10 months) many days..thank you for a lovely write!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's a wonderfully sad tale - and a wodnerfully sad poem. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What great simplicity, imagination and understatement. A very polished work

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sad tale that also teaches how strong and resistant love can be!

    I measure it with longing.

    Like your ending. thanks for leading me here ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. great lesson, or question. for true love, is one day a year enough? i think the answer is no. tough punishment. fascinating tale.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cruel and unusual punishment really.
    Very touching write!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What an interesting story! That is definitely true love that would wait for one day a year. So sad and beautiful at the same time :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. your story/poem reminds me of the Persephone myth.

    it's a lovely story/poem. underlines the story that good guys always come in last. at least this one has an immortal esposa...the problem..what happens with age? interesting.
    sorry...mumbling to my self there.

    quite a love poem...being the newbie here, it's probably my first love-poem to crit.

    poetically, it sings true and very well.
    thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lovely re-telling. Enjoyed hearing this story again and the poem is beautifully written as well.

    ReplyDelete