this is the tale of the Peach Farmer's Son

He awoke in the hay
to a streaming tear bead
that splashed upon straw
and transformed into frost
he imagined he were dead
like the cold earth in winter
waiting for his Duchess
to seek him in the afterlife.

She in her tower
remembered their vow
to forsake the other
in a land
shaking with chaos -
She married her Prince
and bided her time
showering compassion upon the people
until the kingdom healed
and he too passed away

Then it arrived
the inevitable Day.
She smiled upon her bed
as the angel extracted her soul
and gathered it for Paradise,
where the Prince awaited
his life's companion

His love was true
His deeds were pure
He asked for nothing more
than an eternity
in her presence

The Peach Farmer's Son
realized then
that a vow on earth
could not compete
with a request granted in Heaven
so he thanked God
for his peaches
and that such love
was only imagined.