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English
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Published:
2026-05-13
Words:
211
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1/1
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8
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寸裂玄甲 (I want to crack your shadowed armor piece by piece)

Summary:

One night well after their parting, while Qingming is once again idly writing talismans and thinking of Boya, a poem bursts out.

Notes:

One night well after their parting, while Qingming is once again idly writing talismans and thinking of Boya, a poem bursts out. But Qingming will never show it to Boya, so it's fine, right? He'll just crumple it up and burn it.

Later.

This poem was written on paper meant for magic. When you read it, you may find that as your finger passes over the lines, some words shift into Chinese phrases and quotes that Qingming was thinking of as he wrote.

(To view without the transformation effect, click Hide Creator's Style. Note that this will also result in incorrect line spacing, sorry!)

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

I want to crack your shadowed armor piece (寸裂其玄甲)

by piece. To break you, as you break a seal.

And though I crave to seize all you'd reveal,

I keep this secret locked behind my teeth:(諱莫如深，深則隱 )

I'd cut unworthy chains away, I'd take

the years of wind and rain (風霜雨雪) you've borne alone

to bind as runes and scars along my bones,

I'd rend the ghost of grief to dust. I ache.

I bite and bleed. I fear to speak(欲語還休) and can't

admit that Spring (春思) grows, savage, in my chest,

and tender claws reach out in sweet unrest. (蠢蠢欲動)

Who dares to ask for all his dreams? (孰敢盡取己夢哉) Just grant

me leave to drown in my devotion(心溶溶其不可量兮，情澹澹其若渊). Let

my tongue and hands write worship on your skin.

I want your want, and you half-lost(銷魂) within

this fierce and sacred flame, without regret.(終身無悔)

Unseen above, stars fade and then return(星移鬥轉).

If Fate takes arms against us, let it burn!

Notes:

The Chinese words and phrases are (mostly) not direct translations; they're things I had in mind while I was writing in English or that I found later while revising. And they don't swap seamlessly/code-mixing style into the English. I didn't want to leave them out entirely, but I don't have the skills to write classical Chinese poetry. So here they exist as Qingming's stray thoughts caught by the paper, floating on the actual poem. It's an experiment; I'm not sure whether it works! Anyway, apologies for any Chinese language/classical Chinese mistakes; I'm just a learner.

Big thanks to mackerel_cheese's tutorial for the language shifting.

This poem is loosely modeled on Donne/Milton heroic sonnets, hence the length. In the end I went with my own rhyme scheme. This is probably ill-advised for my first sonnet, and yet, here we are! Of course, Qingming wouldn't have written a sonnet; more likely a ci. But I think they have some features in common.

I only watched this movie for the first time a few months ago. Since then I've found myself thinking about Boya and Qingming again and again. I'm so grateful for the existence of art and fic about them!

(II kind of? maybe? want to write a short fic that goes with the existence of this poem. I didn't intend there to be more to it, but then again...)