The man asked me, "Poet, why do you travel so far?"
I told him, "I am searching everywhere for some uncomfortable corner of the world where I can hide."
The man did not understand. He asked me, "If you seek a hiding place, why not find a comfortable one?"
It was time to go. I bade the man farewell and walked toward the ruins.
Deathly air drifted through the sky like gray smoke,
The endless road seemed to lead toward oblivion.
Along the way, I recalled the first love of my youth,
My darling, she had once been a door for me,
She freed me from the confines and led me into an unfamiliar world.
"Why did you leave the army and travel alone?"
I turned around and found a sculpture wearing a helmet.
"Which most benevolent god is speaking to me in person?"
"Why did you leave the army and travel alone?"
The statue asked me again.
I told it that I was searching everywhere for some uncomfortable corner of the world where I could hide.
"Heavens, I witnessed a tremendous miracle with my own eyes. One who had already died came back to life and returned to the front lines brimming with vitality."
I asked the sculpture, "Do you know what lies ahead?"
"Have you seen the moon?"
"I have."
The sculpture said:
She rose from her palace beneath the sea, her face flushed with shyness, like a bride leaving her bridal chamber.
She looked like a maiden, yet she had already grown old.
Her brows were still soft and lovely, but the braid upon her pillow was no longer golden. It was made of strands of silver, carrying a mysterious chill.
Her face was still round, but her eyes were tightly shut. She slept like a bride,