--17th Anniversary, Tiannamen Square Massacre, June 4th 1989
by SHENG, XUE Translated by Wan Zhi and Brenda Vellino
…
Then
We run run run and fled in all directions
Huge mourning like a curtain
Covering sky and earth
Broken by desperate footsteps
Torn to pieces and tatters
Following the fleeing shadows
Scattering all corners
Of the foreign world
No backward glance
No silent tribute
No kisses for each other’s tears
No hasty hugs
Must flee
Before we are swallowed up
By gray suffocating fog
Like endless bloody cobwebs
And turning back to cover escaping tracks
Use our hopeless tears and blood
Before we vanish over the horizon
Exile. . . like being ground down
In the village millstone
Cold and hard crushed to flour
Slowly and repeatedly
Mixing with exile’s sadness and stranger’s madness
Reborn as ordinary folks
Hiding a bitter face with laughter in the crowd
How many years of nightmare awakenings
How many years of fighting and struggling
How many years of surrendering and suffering
How many years with a solitary lamp enduring
Like a leaf in the river carried forward
Finally we decide to forget
With fully acceptance no arguing
How many people worried about gain and loss
How many people turned to the broad path
How many people embraced the oppressor
How many people celebrate each other’s success
Betraying memory
Wasn't premeditated
If one day we meet face to face
Just let the awkward moment
Pass
Don’t mention the past
Don’t feel embarrassed
Don’t turn away
Don’t cover your face
We are already someone else
No longer the-you-and-me of long ago.
