Ayame (彩女) of the Clan Azuma: a Poem

Ayame (彩女)

A moonless night filled the feudal estate—

No silver-gilding glow would help them see

The approaching danger, their coming fate,

Stalking the compound from the distant trees.

Out from the darkness a warrior came—
A shadow within the shadow’s shadow—
An Azuma ninja, O dreaded name:
Ayame—scourge of her trembling foes.

Now death’s dark shadow through the castle creeps,

And it follows Ayame’s crimson path

Up to the chambers where the cruel lord sleeps,

Who will soon feel the shadow’s fatal wrath.

And soon, guard after guard will disappear,

And Kiku will too from their clutch be saved—

That child-princess whom the clan holds dear, 

Whom the lord of this compound had enslaved.

“Let no more guards my way impede or fight, 

Or by these swords, none will survive this night.”

-jwm Of the Poem The above poem is the result of a request by my daughter to write something pertaining to the video game series, Tenchu. My daughter had previously written a poem about a character in the same series who goes by the name Rin (凛), a poem she titled: I am Rin of the Benyia. Since I knew a great deal about Tenchu in general, and Ayame's character in particular (my daughter and I played this game together often), and because she did a really good job with her poem, I thought it would be fun to try and put something together. So who is this Ayame character? Ayame (彩女, pronounced 'aye-yom-ee') is a fictional character in the stealth video game series Tenchu. According to that series, which takes place in a fantasy 16th century feudal Japan, Ayame was found abandoned in Kyoto as a very young child after a devastating battle that took place during the Warring States period. She was adopted and eventually trained as a kunoichi (female ninja) by a grand master named Shiunsai Azuma (東 紫雲齋.) When she was twelve, Ayame trained as an equal along side two other male ninjas, Tatsumaru (龍丸) and Rikimaru (力丸). She would eventually become one of the most feared assassins serving the House of Lord Gohda (郷田 松之信) and dedicating especially her time and loyalty to the young Princess Kiku (菊姫, pronounced 'key-koo'), whom she treated as a younger sister.

In the poem above, I depict Ayame infiltrating an enemy castle at night in stealth, assassinating the rival clan leader, and rescuing Princess Kiku who had been kidnapped and held there as a hostage—events that did not occur in the game's storyline, but certainly could have.

To stay as true to the character as I could, I had the concluding couplet refer to 'two swords' that Ayame swears on. Throughout the entire Tenchu series, Ayame's primary weapons were two kodachi (小太刀)—that is, two short swords (swords that were commonly used by samurai during Japan's feudal period).

Before closing I might add that my poem was initially meant to be a sonnet, but my daughter thought that I should include what is now the fourth stanza—a stanza that I had been experimenting with. After having done that, and after having read the poem through, I felt the addition of that stanza not only fit well, but added wonderfully to the story. For that, I have her to thank. Thank you for stopping by. If you have played Tenchu, or are familiar with the series, I would love to know what you think of the poem. Was Ayame depicted well, did you like the storyline? Do you wish they would come out with another Tenchu? Let me know ...