Laiwan

Ubiquitous China

Had we known she could withstand such massive changes
would we have respected her sooner?

now she challenges every ideal you hold about yourself and about her
and you fight back
you invade her because she is strong and desirable

she will say there is much work to do
she will say she does not want you
that she does not need you
you will realize how foreign you are

and in defense you will say “Your men are the women of our world”
she will say there is much work to do

you adore her in her mystery, the mystery so constantly built
and encouraged by your adoration /

then,
when she sees the magnificent mountain and the mists
she will recognize a landscape of where she came from
and with it so much space, an immensity she had longed for
she will recognize how foreign she is

and,
when you see the magnificent mountain and the mists
you will say “there is much work to do”
and she will recognize how foreign you are /

i could tell you that you have never known her, never seen her
never listened to her and that her name is not china
that you are china
i could tell you she is beside you

Part II
Was he not fortunate
he had not missed the boat?

now,
he finds he is beside himself
accomplished at determining differences for comparison
and in doing so he establishes his mastery
by insulating himself with repetition

mad images
of our stupidity, our clumsiness, our greed, our inscrutability,
our savagery he has contained
in a trust and belief
around which a world has been avidly built

then,
you adore her excitement, her exoticism
to which you have addicted yourself to capture
with insatiate conservation

can he know how the insistence / persistence of one reality / perception
has impoverished us to this degree unimaginable?

now,
he finds he is beside himself
filled with uncertainty about how she sees him
he is constant with intentions
     to relieve his conscience
     never to relive this conscience

not having comprehended
that having taken to interpreting her to herself

he has justified his end
     il a justifié ses fins
     il a justifié sa fin.