Upon Mount Kunlun’s cloud-encircling peak,
Xi Wangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, 
Has opened her jade palace to receive
The deities of the realms, invited to
Partake in Heaven’s famous Peach Banquet.

A train of noble and prestigious guests –
Immortals, sages, bodhisattvas, gods –
Cross seas and mountains for this sacred feast,
Held every few millennia when the Peaches
Of Immortality at last are ripe.

Soft music fills the perfumed air around
The Mother Goddess’s pure Turquoise Pond,
Where graceful fairies in attendance serve
The Western Paradise’s lauded fruit
Plucked freshly from the orchard of their Queen.

The ladies in their silken, colored robes
Glide through the clouds to this serene expanse,
Where amaranthine boughs present their fruit –
Three thousand and six hundred towering trees
Whose jade-green leaves sway midst the pearl-white mist.

Untouched by time, unsullied by stray dust
And wordly filth, the vibrant orchard charms
All eyes that glance at its ethereal hues
And noses that breathe in the fragrant scents
Of trees bedecked with shimmering blooms and fruit.

Each tree’s as ancient as the Earth itself,
A third of which produce the smallest fruit
That ripens every three millennia,
Whose essence can at once make one ascend
To godhood, light of body, clear of mind.

Another third, grown at the orchard’s heart,
Produce most mesmerizing flowers and
Sweet peaches that extend longevity,
Each taking six millennia to be formed,
Whose heavenly juice keeps one forever young.

The last remaining trees deep in that space
Take nine millennia to bear their large fruit –
Unique with tiny yellow seeds and veins
Of purple on their pink skin tipped with white–
Which make one timeless as the Sun and Moon.

Such are the treasures of the Heavenly Realm,
Safeguarded by their fair, benevolent Queen,
Who shares such delicacies with the gods
And mortals deemed most worthy of such boons,
Whose names and deeds are honored evermore.

The music rings, the dance begins as wine
Is poured, and plates are served. The gathered guests
Take to their seats to chatter and to feast
Where joy is savored, merriment is shared,
All sweetened by the Peaches’ luscious tastes.

[Ngo Binh Anh Khoa is a teacher of English in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In his free time, he enjoys reading fiction and writing speculative poetry. His works have appeared in Penumbric, Star*Line, Weirdbook, Spectral Realms, and other venues. He also enjoys writing haiku, some of which have received awards and honorable mentions in international contests in the USA, the UK, Japan, Canada, and elsewhere.]