Shanghai you are Cherished!

Great Shanghai gave me a lot of things to cherish....this poem is counted as one:
And a lot more on my iloho profile

The Shanghai moon splashes down through the trees, dripping from every branch. Each leaf embossed with silvered gold; dense branches stretching out like greedy children, the leaves are hands, groping for the precious metallic light.

The silent sidewalk beneath appears covered with new fallen snow. But, the hoary frost is only light. The night, though generally crisp, is warmed by sultry breezes lifted by the gentle laughter of the nearby sea.

Her black onyx eyes sparkle; partly reaction to the dark, emerald embers of her burning soul. Her eyes lie, seeming distant, insincere, unembracing. The man takes no notice her acute observations of his every move.

Her eyes appear aloof, yet her mind dances like a little girl - in and out of a circle of ideas. She watches, calculates, weighing each word and action, she looks around his shoulder, to stare intensely into his eyes, to find what is really there, only for a split second, lets he notice! She analyzes every phrase upon the scales of her mind, placing each concept into a vault, to be handled later in the silence of the cold night, with doors shut, when she is alone. There, in solitude she will replay the words and watch him perform again on the stage of her memory.

She raises a question, throws it to him, he never knows it is bait, to please the audience that she will later become. But you see, she must! If only to satisfy unanswered questions!

Oh, she is not a deceiver, no! More like a spider, weaving her web with the very fibers of her soul. No deception at all, it is just her way. You see, in her past she was lied to; now her soul pocked with scars of betrayal, a stab and a knife wound that runs deeply into her conscious mind. She had given her heart and was used, beaten and mocked, like an unwanted stepchild. Now, retreating to her chamber, she watches from a distance where she is safe.

From behind the stonewall that surrounds her heart, she peers. Come with me, I will show you the inner sanctuary where she dwells. You see, she is such a lady, even a princess... but, alas! She does not believe! She is so afraid that she really is that unwanted stepchild. Come, let me show you who she is...

Oh, she warns me with her eyes, a painful flash of silence! Black fire slices through the night towards me! How dare I invade her silent safety! Stay back! Oh, she cannot fool me, she is an angel that has fallen to the snow, and has simply forgotten who she is.

He calls to her, with a voice so strong and sincere. But there she is in the shadows of her mind, afraid to answer him. He keeps on calling, but she pretends there is only silence in the weight of the night.

Sad, pity the forgotten beauty of this lovely child! Weep with me at the agony of the stepchild who is really an angel... Sigh...
--CW