A sunny reflection on the obstacles a couple has overcome
The Horse and the Monkey
I tell you that I am horse, you
a monkey, fated by the Chinese
zodiac to remain together as long
as both partners practise the art
of compromise. The horse and
monkey can now be found
riding the wind at the fifth base
of Mount Fuji. We hold each other
as if our limbs were the mountain’s
melting snow. All those days when
I believed the odds were bruised:
our zodiacs, my Chinese parents.
Your tofu skin against the butter
of mine. Moments before the plane
delivers us to ground, I beg amid
the turbulence – please– to Buddha,
even to the Lord who would never
grant me permission to love you.
I am bargaining with these whorls
of steel to keep going, in spite of
everything. At home, my mother
greets us both with these words:
I love monkeys. They are auspicious
creatures. In that moment, did you
realise that we were being blessed?
