Author Archives: d.perry

Believe in the Future
by Shi Zhi

When cobwebs relentlessly clog my stove
When its dying smoke sighs for poverty
I will stubbornly dig out the disappointing ash
And write with beautiful snowflakes: Believe in the Future
 
When my overripe grapes melt into late autumn dew
When my fresh flower lies in another’s arms
I will stubbornly write on the bleak earth
With a dry frozen vine: Believe in the Future

I point to the waves billowing in the distance
I want to be the sea that holds the sun in its palm
Take hold of the beautiful warm pen of the dawn
And write with a child-like hand: Believe in the Future
 
The reason why I believe so resolutely in the future is:
I believe in the eyes of the people of the future
Their eyelashes that can brush away the ash of history
Their pupils that can see through the texts of time

It doesn’t matter whether people shed contrite tears
For our rotten flesh, or our hesitancy, or the bitterness of our failure
Whether they view us with sneers or deep-felt sympathy
Or scornful smiles or pungent satire
 
I firmly believe that people will judge our spines
And our endless explorations, losses, failures and successes
With an enthusiastic, objective and fair evaluation
Yes, I await their judgement anxiously

Friends, please let us believe in the future
Believe in our unbending striving
Believe in our youth that can conquer death
Believe in the Future: believe in Life.

Beijing, 1968

https://www.zgnfys.com/m/a/nfwx-30418.shtml

The Answer
by Bei Dao

Debasement is the password of the base,
Nobility the epitaph of the noble.
See how the gilded sky is covered
With the drifting twisted shadows of the dead.

The Ice Age is over now,
Why is there ice everywhere?
The Cape of Good Hope has been discovered,
Why do a thousand sails contest the Dead Sea?

I came into this world
Bringing only paper, rope, a shadow,
To proclaim before the judgment
The voice that has been judged:

Let me tell you, world,
I—do—not—believe!
If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet,
Count me as number thousand and one.

I don’t believe the sky is blue;
I don’t believe in thunder’s echoes;
I don’t believe that dreams are false;
I don’t believe that death has no revenge.

If the sea is destined to breach the dikes
Let all the brackish water pour into my heart;
If the land is destined to rise
Let humanity choose a peak for existence again.

A new conjunction and glimmering stars
Adorn the unobstructed sky now;
They are the pictographs from five thousand years.
They are the watchful eyes of future generations.

Without
by Joy Harjo

The world will keep trudging through time without us
When we lift from the story contest to fly home
We will be as falling stars to those watching from the edge
Of grief and heartbreak
Maybe then we will see the design of the two-minded creature 
And know why half the world fights righteously for greedy masters 
And the other half is nailing it all back together
Through the smoke of cooking fires, lovers’ trysts, and endless 
Human industry—
Maybe then, beloved rascal
We will find each other again in the timeless weave of breathing
We will sit under the trees in the shadow of earth sorrows 
Watch hyenas drink rain, and laugh.

https://clas.osu.edu/sites/clas.osu.edu/files/Tuck%20and%20Yang%202012%20Decolonization%20is%20not%20a%20metaphor.pdf

https://marktomforde.com/academic/miscellaneous/stories/ursula-k-le-guin-the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas.pdf

https://www.cs.ucdavis.edu/~koehl/Teaching/ECS188/PDF_files/Machine_stops.pdf

edited from, The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster

I want to see you not through the machine.
I want to speak to you not through the wearisome machine.
I see something like you, but I do not see you.
I hear something like you, but I do not hear you.
I seized with the terror of direct experience.
Unmediated, my behavior could not fit
any former narrative arcs.
So the human passions still blundered
up and down in the machine.
But for the motion of my eyes back and forth,
I hardly moved my body.
All unrest was concentrated in the soul.
All the old literature, with its praise
of Nature, and its fear of Nature,
rang false as the prattle of a child.

from the wonderful Nadia: Secret of Blue Water (episode 16) –


See this flower in the darkness, and know the Joy of Life.
This flower is verily the Force of Life.
Learn awe of the Darkness. Close you eyes and think of the Darkness.
Darkness is the Lord of Unease. Darkness is verily the Kingdom of Death.
Do not forget Darkness when there is light.
Do not forget the flower when there is Darkness.
Do not forget the unmerciful and unfeeling nature
when you look into the Darkness within your hearts.
Be in awe of the Darkness. Close your eyes and think of the Darkness.
We say unto you, rest in unbroken sleep
until the day when we return to our home beyond the stars.
From this day, we become inhabitants of the Darkness. Each of us
offers flowers, and an uneasy peace within our hearts.
Farewell.