I really think that this is one syllable, but then again, I could have missed
some... background down below, after writing exercise ^_^ Oh, and email me
here, or to monica@pipeline.com .

---

I love him. 

I won't -- no, can't stop, though all the power in the world tried to halt my
heart. 

He is half of my soul; he owns me to the depths of all that I am.

I know that he loves me. I know that he would die for me, if he had to, and I
know that I would do the same for him. And I know that he is lost to me. 

We are far, too far, to meet; a deep starred gulf is stretched out 'twixt our
forms, and our thoughts are all that can reach out to touch. I catch sight of
him in my dreams at times -- it is such a brief glimpse that all I can feel is
rage and pain at the loss. 

We have no true hope for an end to this. In our pain, we shed tears that will
not stop. Are we too sad? Could we live on, work as we should -- he with his
cows, and I with my weaves of silk in the stars? 

I am the child of a king, the same king who forced me and my love to go so
far: he to the west, I to the east. We did not work as we should have: I was
lost in his eyes, and he in my smile. Now, I know our place, our tasks. I
weave and my prince herds, for the wealth and luck of our land. But in truth,
we work so that we may meet: that much, we have. 

One day out of the year, I may see my love. One day, one night, I may hold him
to me, call him to my arms. But we must do as we should and work at our tasks
wsith all our strength. Still, though we have that, we weep even while we
work, and our tears fall to the Earth. 

It is that day now, and for the first time, my tears cease. I, with a smile
and a song, make my last weave of the day. I stand then, and walk to where the
vast Way of stars blocks me from my prince. I stare to the west, and wait. It
is when the night is half gone that I see the truth: the king has not seen it
fit to make a road through the Way for us -- we may not meet on this night.

My tears will not stop. All is black and dark -- no light can come through to
my soul. The stars can't touch me; there is no joy left in my heart. All I can
see is his form, so far from me...

It is then that I hear the first voice: rough and deep, it breaks through my
self made fog.

"Please stop your tears, Star-girl, One who Weaves. Do you not see that your
tears have made the whole Earth flood? You and your man have caused much grief
to all of us on the ground."

I look down to see a black bird. He stares at me with sad eyes, and I find
that my tears have ceased. "I-"

"Do not say more. Me and mine will be your bridge to your love: Cross on our
backs, and meet your prince."

I can't say a word -- my heart feels like it will stop, burst with the thanks
I want to scream out. The bird looks at me and nods, then shows me his back. I
step on it, and can't help but gasp when I see the black bridge stretched out
in front of me. I run on the birds to meet him, my heart, and I start to cry
once more as I see him. I know that he will be gone when the day is done: I
will not see him for so long...

But for now, he is mine. For this one night, I will hold him to me: no one
will take him from me. He smiles at me and I want to fall down through the
deep of his clear eyes. His lips meet mine, and the birds form a soft bed of
wings and night for us to lie on. 

I have a prince I may see but once a year, but that once is what my soul aims
for. He is my dear one, my mate for life. It is to see a jet black bridge
stretched through the stars that I live on.

---

Today, being July 7th (at least, when I was writing it) is the day (on the
lunar calendar ^^) that the princess Chiknyo and prince Kyunwoo were supposed
to meet -- the black birds (magpies) are supposed to be gone on this day,
since they're in the heavens, making a bridge for the couple. If it rains, it
means that they are remembering the separation that they will have to endure
for another year. There's also a comparable Japanese folktale, I believe. 

Monica