White Bird Sister:

Chu Revisits the Past

by Jeannine Hall Gailey

(Carry on, Carry on.)

Little brother, you watched our stepmother

boil me in a pot, you were forced to gather

firewood. You found a white bird

who gave you cedar branches, wove you

gold clothing. We had told father to remarry,

we trusted and lost. So you go

with your stepsister to my husband,

the prince, and she is wearing a veil, and

you call her Chu, my name, my wedding dress.

In the forests you are lonely, you call

and I visit as a white bird. (Carry on, Carry on.)

In the palace you sleep in the fire grate,

on tatami mats. I tell you to hide there,

you are found by the prince

who has married my stepsister in my name.

The false Chu is killed. You fill earthenware bowls

with water for me. When the sun rises,

you pull me from the King of the next world,

back to my buried body. I return to you.

I marry my rightful husband, return to my name

to protect you, watch over you

in this world and the next. Never fear, little brother,

that the white bird will forget. Keep to your prayers

and I will find you. Carry on, Carry on.