Spending the Night In a Temple

Spending the Night in a Temple The ice rains hard upon the temple walls As the fires within keep the visitors warm The 2 brothers deep in a fever lie head to head And hold hands A girl raised above them on a cot reads sacred scriptures Only she can understand And the ancient grandmother and grandfather hold vigil Over the shivering boys The temple keepers bring bowls of food to the weary As apparitions appear and disappear In front of the dragon shrine Another tired band of travelers wander in Bringing with them a gust of frigid air And take refuge on mattresses lined against the wall Everyone gathers closer for warmth Even the mouse cat braves the human presences The boys’ fevers rise higher and higher Hands are held more tightly The ice falls harder echoing throughout the mountain night And the entire temple slowly drifts into 1000 years of sleep