Perhaps… Perhaps… Perhaps…
I recently heard this poem read and I found it very inspiring.
PERHAPS…
for the loneliness of an author
Perhaps these thoughts of ours
will never find an audience
Perhaps the mistaken road
will end in a mistake
Perhaps the lamps we light one at a time
will be blown out, one at a time
Perhaps the candles of our lives will gutter out
without lighting a fire to warm us.Perhaps when all the tears have been shed
the earth will be more fertile
Perhaps when we sing praises to the sun
the sun will praise us in return
Perhaps these heavy burdens
will strengthen our philosophy
Perhaps when we weep for those in misery
we must be silent about miseries of our ownPerhaps
Because of our irresistible sense of mission
We have no choice.
by Shu Ting
translated from the Chinese by Carolyn Kizer
girl on the phone said,
August 7, 2007 @ 5:04 pm
It is a lot better when you read it.
beso
hijo de thor, sobrino de messner said,
August 13, 2007 @ 12:28 pm
me tomo la libertad de postearle otro poema como comment.
Si me hubiese esforzado un poco mas
Si no hubiese abandonado todo
Si no hubiese renunciado
Si hubiese sido un poco ma sfuerte
Si no hubiese sido tan terco
Si no hubiese tenido tanto miedo
No tendria esta sensacion de fracaso
Este peso que cada dia poesa mas
Esta oscuridad impenetrable
Esta falta de aire y de esperanzas
Esa sensacion de vacio
Caigo peor ni siquiera hay suelo
La oscuridad me oprime
Y la uz que se veia al final del tunel se ha extinguido
Estyo solo en la multitud
Acompañado pero solo
El universo no confabula contra mi
Pero asi se siente aveces.
No hay nada
Y lo que si hay esta en contra
O por lo menos asi se siente
No hay nada, nada de nada
Solo la oscuridad
Y una tormenta de las malas
Se seco el pozo
Y no viene la lluvia
Soy carne de este cañon sadico en que ha devenido mi vida
No se adonde pero algun lado estoy yendo
Solo ruego que llegue rapido
Si tan solo…..
Pero no.
MC Sandwich said,
October 11, 2007 @ 3:55 pm
Jesus Christ,
This poetry is all getting a little heavy.
Nate, thanks for posting that. I too found it inspiring. It makes me wonder which parts of it we lose in translation.
Regardless, I’m writing the last line of it on the chalk board hanging outside of my room:
“Perhaps
Because of our irresistible sense of mission
We have no choice.”
I want to write. I want to build something new. I want to change the way people think about things for the better.
And, to do that, an “irresistible sense of mission” is key.
Have fun in the States,
Joe