Folding steel bending
Master sword smith shapes Daito
Indelible strength.
Sleeping in a storm
Watching with my brother
My father guides me.
Wide open maelstrom
Crows gaming in the white sky
Death falls like cold stones.
Greening ever green
Sweet plums drip golden dew drops
Worms warm in the sun.
One thousand fingers
Blinding an opponents sight
One hand curls like death.
My hand is my sword
It strikes with perfect movement
Training gives me peace.
Palms upturned tremble
Fist becomes a stone temple
Inside are my foes.
Wind blowing over sails
Infinity minus one
Finite sword unleashed.
The revenge draws near
Swordsman draws nearly perfect
Drawing nearly lost.
These are special secrets,
A life that was fully lived
…Remembering Mel.
-A.J. Mak.
Early January…Three years on.