The year 1368 saw the Ming
Dynasty beginning its Chinese rule
Led by a mere peasant and sometime monk
Hongwu (or Hung-Wu), scourge of the Mongol
Expelling them from Beijing to the folds
Of the northern desert, shut out with walls
Stronger, higher, brick-built, it towers and rolls
For thousands of miles, although far from all
Intact; stolen stones, graffiti; it falls
Slowly with wind and time. Now, in Nanjing
The dead emperor lies beneath his stele
Deaf to his torture victims' cries and calls
Paranoid no more, the gain of losing
Life's burden of choice, power's chain and ball
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