枯藤舊釵 · The Withered Vine and the Old Hairpin

An original 古風 song for day eight — a soldier or envoy far from home, stranded on a frost-bitten mountain road in winter, reaches into a tattered saddlebag for a heavier coat and his fingers close instead on a half-jade hairpin. His beloved pressed it into his palm at parting. The jade has thinned, the gold fillet tarnished. Her name is still scratched into the back.

Sheng (笙) leads for the first time in this series: its breathy, reedy voice — equal parts exhalation and restrained grief — threads through guqin counter-melody and a low erhu drone, carrying the listener into the peculiar interior sorrow of a man who has grown used to distance but is ambushed by a small, physical thing. Five-character and seven-character verse (五言/七言 mixed), classical/literary Chinese. Theme: love & separation (round 2).

引子 笙聲起，霜路長， 一燈孤，照行囊。

主歌一 關山萬里霜雪白， 驛路無人夜色沉。 翻篋舊裌尋寒衣， 指觸半釵心已驚。 玉已殘，金已黯， 當年親手贈釵時， 春風搖曳垂絲柳， 枯藤今縈斷腸枝。

副歌 舊釵冷，舊釵冷， 握在掌中似握霜。 名字猶在釵背刻， 墨色已淡人已遠。 千山隔，萬水長， 問歸期，無人答， 只有笙聲訴衷腸。

主歌二 燈芯燃盡思難盡， 夢裡曾渡橋上風。 橋頭折柳君先去， 橋尾空餘舊衣紅。 絹上字，猶可辨， 「平安歸，莫忘我」， 六字輕，千里重， 讀罷難舉執筆手。

副歌 舊釵冷，舊釵冷， 握在掌中似握霜。 名字猶在釵背刻， 墨色已淡人已遠。 千山隔，萬水長， 問歸期，無人答， 只有笙聲訴衷腸。

橋段 笙啊笙， 你可知關外雪幾深？ 你可知幔中燈幾暗？ 你可知此去何時還？ 此去何時還……

尾聲 霜路靜，笙聲遠， 舊釵收入懷中暖。 明日又踏千山路， 帶著她的名字走。