The cinnabar cockerels sport resplendent hues,
Their paired spurs like tips of blades.
Ready to parade their blazing might,
They join in battle on this courtyard path.
Sharp claws test the jade steps,
Glaring eyes are infused with fiery light;
Long tail-feathers lift in a startling wind,
Hackle quills spread in display.
They spring and wield bent beaks,
Strike like lightning and again fly back.
©1994 by Columbia University Press. Used with permission of Columbia University Press.
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