Visage pays homage to 1974 and before

To the farmer I have seen with my own eyes

Signing autographs for his fielded memories of the day

Singing the praises of good fortune’s discovery;

Better to dig a well in drought Yang Zhifa and quell

Concerns that the red earth would harden the arteries

Of peasant villager and uncooperative crops alike

As minds unified to the cause of cultural upheaval

To pause and reflect on the status of first Emperor relics;

Qin Shi Huang in advance of standing orders to the stage

209 BC Yang digs deep and hoes offshoots of an eighth wonder

Relegated beneath auspicious geology to guard the mausoleum

Amid flowing rivers of mercury to deter disturbance of a journey

Studied as worthy of a figure bound for glory among heavenly bodies

To deify for eternity until the guardians are revealed as flaky upon contact

With the province’s dry air any complexion would struggle to shine in.

Michael Haward