I saw you first at Uji,
and the broad river there,
calm and proud, sitting tall
on an untamed horse.
Yoshinaka’s favorite
and, to some, a demon
dressed in fair white skin
and long, coal black hair.
You and your horse glide –
swift strides across the shallows –
to cut, like a scythe
through our lines.
How hard, to be Bushi,
and woman, all at once.
Each aspect hobbled
by the weight of the other.
I know the sullen whispers
that you live with,
they float around our camp too,
when the men think me asleep.
You were good enough
to lead men to victory,
to win battles for the Heiki,
but still a woman – an impediment
to honorable defeat.
I feared that
you sought your own death
when you crossed the field
to duel with Morishige.
I should have trusted
the light in your dark eyes,
unblinking in the bright sun.
How I wishI could have faced you,
smiled as we clashed
to say, without words,
that you were not alone.
I loved you first at Uji,
and the broad river there,
when you left the field
and rode east, unarmored.
Tomoe Gozen was a woman briefly mentioned in the Tale of the Heiki, a more or less historical account of the war between the Minamoto and Taira clans in medieval Japan. Though depicted as a great warrior, her master dismissed her before the final battle, claiming it would be dishonorable to die in the company of a woman. She rode across the field and challenged Morishige, the leader of the opposing forces. She defeated him, then stripped off her armor and rode into the eastern provinces, never to be heard from again.