The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

The scholar rolls his shoulders,

Raises his creased brow past candle

To the window, that he might regard her once again,

Causing the carefully curated pages to spill from his lap

She stirs. Feet firmly pressed into the earth, knees deeply bent, she balances there

Over a low fire. She seems to him as sturdy as the bamboo bridge of Hoi An

He counts five as she seasons the measure of each element into the clay vessel:

Mouthing the simple words for fire, water, earth, metal and wood

Stirring again, each grain of rice surrendering to her unhurried hand

To break. To bloom.

Like the lotus of her bearing

He discerns

Lá lành ðùm lá rách

The green leaf covers the broken one