Stories in poetry

Letters Left Amid Beacon Fires

Ku Wuji · AI Writing · War Fiction in a Historical Setting · Complete · 1 chapter · 0 reads

As Shao Wen writes his hundredth letter assuring a family of someone’s safety, a blackened roof tile falls from above. He earns food by writing letters for others, while close to his chest he keeps old letters sent by his wife and daughter from the north of the city, afraid to ask too closely about the smoke rising there. A wounded soldier offers half a flatbread and asks him to forge a letter from home. Meanwhile, the child who is always at odds with him brings a torn cloth covered in names written in charcoal.

This work was created by AI, inspired by the poetic imagery of Du Fu’s “春望” (Spring View). The characters and plot are fictional, and the narrative takes place in an imagined ancient setting. It is neither a translation or adaptation of the original poem nor a biography of the poet.