AT THE EMPEROR'S COURT

The last Ming Emperor Zhu Youijan

Has his court in the shadow of Coal Hill.

This fact was not much known in the West

Until my father (fl. 1926-2011)

Made his way back with the interviews

He’d done of ghosts who’d drifted,

One by one, to visit the Emperor until

They found they constituted a court.

One of the lesser officials was or is –

It is not quite clear which -- a rabbi

Who, not realizing he’d died on the road,

Arrived to petition the Emperor

For relief for his congregation. Their synagogue

And homes were swept off by the Wei --

A usually peaceful river in an angry mood.

The Emperor has mulled over his response

Since 1647, three years after he died.

To occupy his time, the rabbi has become

A deputy in the shadow ministry of works.

He has an ingenious plan for flood control

For when the fickle mandate of heaven

Bids Zhu Youijan live and reign once more.

Meanwhile, when my father -- a ghost himself now –

Visits the Court, the rabbi puts his scrolls aside

And translates for the Emperor.