The Spirit Wall

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Title:     The Spirit Wall
Author: Eunice Tietjens [More Titles by Tietjens]

It stands before my neighbor's door, between him and
    the vegetable garden and the open toilet pots and
    the dirty canal.
Not that he wishes to hide these things.
On the contrary, he misses the view.
But China, you must understand, is full of evil spirits,
    demons of the earth and air, foxes and shui-mang
    devils, and only the priest knows what beside.
A man may at any moment be bewitched, so that his
    silk-worms die and his children go blind and he
    gets the devil-sickness.
So living is difficult.
But Heaven has providentially decreed that these evil
    spirits can travel only in a straight line. Around
    a corner their power evaporates.
So my neighbor has built a wall that runs before his
    door. Windows of course he has none.
He cannot see his vegetable garden, and his toilet pots,
    and the dirty canal.
But he is quite safe!
  Wusih

[The end]
Eunice Tietjens's poem: Spirit Wall

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