Circumnavigating Ho Guom

by Bruce Weigl

No moon tonight that I can see
through clouds that gathered as the sun
went down beyond the lake of the
returned sword, named for the story
that everyone can tell, the tortoise
who saved an empire, and gave
the weary warrior king not
just a sword to slay intruders,
but a will to carry on.
In the end people gathered
around the lake at night, waiting
for the giant head to
surface again, and part dark waters
to bring them nothing less than
a peaceful life where judgment breaks
across the surface of the lake
exactly like the rising sun.