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| James Tian |
Seeing Faith and Thinking “How Wonderful”
By James Tian
They take some bones of the dead from the past,
Coat them in fluorescent powder,
Then proclaim the discovery of a “new difference”.
No one asks how those bones died back then;
Just proving their “difference”,
Is merely preparation for a scheme,
To make others serve them for free.
They take some living people’s heads today,
Wrap them in colored cloth strips,
Then declare them the only “special ones”,
Capable of communicating with the “new difference”.
No one asks how these people are living now;
Exalting their “specialness”,
Is merely a step toward the same scheme—
To make others serve them for free.
As for the dignity and intelligence,
Of the remaining half-dead and half-alive,
They toss them into a pot to boil,
Then announce that obedient slaves,
Are the ones blessed by the “new difference”.
No one questions how damnable this logic is;
This game called “the system”,
Exists to prove to the world—
That freeloading isn’t impossible.
Most of those boiled,
Are dancing in delight,
Grateful to finally have a crutch,
To settle their unwillingness to discern.
The living, waving dead men’s bones,
Are glad to see most of the boiled,
Are still merrily dancing.
The joys and sorrows,
Of those boiled masses,
Are trapped among piles of corpses.
The pitiful dead—
They too were once,
Just like them…
The Beauty of Flight Is a Lie Fabricated in the Stillness
By James Tian
When a pair of wings,
Flies with the intent of “seeking freedom” or “finding a safe harbor”,
It’s certain to soar from one cage into another.
When a pair of eyes,
Gazes out tinted with “the need for love” or “the hope to redeem evil”,
It’s sure to leap from left to right,
And will never be able to stop.
When a soul,
Accepts an invitation labeled “cannot see blood” and “can only witness greatness”,
It’ll eventually discover,
That the self is a world no door can ever shut.
Clarity is always a conclusion made after the fact,
Never a judgment made beforehand.
There’s only the difference,
Between growing weary of staying in one place,
And then moving on to linger somewhere else.
