paper requiem

A wild flower flickered in the Monkey King's palm—small as proof, loud as a crown He taught it tricks of wind and riddle-speech, to cart the dusk and tumble kingdoms down Its petals rewrote maps: veins as poems, each fold a compass that makes old borders frown So from that stubborn bloom a new legend grew, stitching history to song and earning its own renown

It snipped the red seam of the city—streets unstitched into ribbons that chased their owners' shoes A compass sprouted ears and winked; it pointed where regrets hid and led them into tickled alleys Officials found their laws folded into paper boats, floating upriver toward rumor and laughter The Monkey King clapped; the flower somersaulted through cartographers' pockets, turning order into game

The compass hiccupped and burped a constellation; stars folded into paper cranes that secreted gossip. A fish-map swam up from an alley, humming the city's private weather and bartering blue for memory. Lamp-posts unbuttoned themselves and spilled trousers of light; newborn moons stitched between the cobbles. The Monkey King winked; the wild flower winked back and sprouted a small grammar of gleam

Ribbons rose into banners; a thousand misfit floats unreeled into a raucous march Lamp-post shirts vaulted into capes; paper cranes piped brass and newborn moons clanged tin tambourines Mayors clambered onto paper-boat platforms and belted verdicts that frayed into ribbons of applause The Monkey King grinned; the wild flower twirled at the prow and the whole city unwound into gleeful uproar

The march sagged into a single breath; banners folded themselves into small, sober letters of thanks Paper boats stopped bobbing and began to cradle names, one by one, as if tucking them to sleep Where laughter had loosened knots, now came a careful stillness—the city listening to its own heart The Monkey King's grin softened; the wild flower closed a petal like a throat holding back a song

Paper boats unrolled themselves into quiet coffins, names stitched like moths between the seams Lanterns folded from ordinances drifted, their candlelight a soft punctuation for every lost habit The Monkey King set his crown face-down on the pavement and tapped a hollow rhythm with three fingers The wild flower shed thin pages that landed on knees and became programs for a slow farewell Cranes, sS