Cold light of iron coat

Galloping horse & sharp sword

Taking the shadow in her bag

She leaves home with no looking back

Loneliness, weakness and cold

All makes a soldier suffering fall

Cruel fight within the war

Death no mercy with the girl

Brews the most life-giving breath

She sleek and deadly into the night

Burn, like the day of the last light

Have you ever heard the cry of the whippoorwill?

The most beautiful voice singing

for every day’s fresh light

But the torrent time wheel whispers

only for the ancient story

Under the common deep sky

Who knows the little girls’ names?

Whippoorwill singing of the day，til the end of night—

She could fly

She could fly

Like a free bird cutting through the sky

Only silence proves her passing by

Judge’s comments: “I enjoy the sweeping, epic tone of ‘A girl heading for war’. The weight and texture of the images are well suited to the narrative; I especially like ‘cold light of iron coat’ and ‘taking the shadow in her bag’. I also like the touches of enigma and mysticism — evoked partly through the reference to the ‘whippoorwill’ myth — and the sense of unresolved suspense that pulses throughout.”

—Natalie Linh Bolderston