Bleeding
From another
Brotherly beating,
You risked
A hot spring,
Arm snapped
In two places,
Eyes blackened,
All breathing
Utter fire-
Dropping
Your father's
Legacy
Onto the snow,
Leaving you
To soak-
Bloodstained hair
Drifting,
Ice in
Your lashes.

Dozing they
Caught you
Before you
Could flee
Peasant women
Chattering,
Undressing,
Kimonos
Bright heaps on
Snow-covered
Stones,
Splashing
Into the water-
Face averted
You retreated
Into the shadows
Among the
Misty stones.

"Maiko,
Priestess."
One of them
Called softly,
Mistaking your
Father's robe,
Left
In the snow
For that
Of a priestess:
"Elder one –
Forgive us
For intruding
Upon your
Meditations.
Please,
Bless us all
For the
Coming
New Year?"

Silently
Retreating
Into the
Steam-
You made
A vague,
Gesture
Of blessing
With your
Remaining
Good hand-
Talons curled
Under,
Hoping
They didn't
Notice your ears…
(You would have
Killed them
Had there been
Any trouble…)

Soft talk,
Murmurs,
And sighs,
Pale rounded
Limbs
Glimpsed
Through dim
Veiling haze-
A wave
Of female
Scent
Filled
The air-
Hurt as
You were
Your body
Responded,
Adding to
The stiffness
You already felt.

Blushing,
You bided
Your time,
Until they departed:
Bowing politely
At what they
Assumed
You to be.
Now gasping
You lie
In the water
Staring up
Blankly
At branches,
Outlined in snow,
As slowly
The bones
Of your arm
Grind back
Into place.