Palindrome Poetry｜Memory

Dec 30, 2021

This palindrome poem written at the beginning of the year for the protesting Myanmar was mailed to me at the end of the year, as if to use the beginning to summarize the end. Suddenly I remembered Sartre's saying, "All beginnings lead to endings." Is that what he said? What a depressing sentence. It would be nice if some started and never ended, and it would be nice if some started and ended. Again, this poem can be read frontward, backwards, and in tandem, and the starting point and end point can be so similar.

[Message] On the last day of 2021, looking back, there are three words that have accompanied me this year - struggle, helplessness, and growth. These three words are not only a description of my own experience, but also a summary of many things we have seen around the world in 2021. At the beginning of 2021, we witnessed the coup in Myanmar and the resistance of the Myanmar people; the resistance continued, and sometimes it became a helpless struggle, and the helplessness inspired resistance again, and so on. Similarly, in those cold but early spring days at the end of February and the beginning of March, I was also wandering between helplessness and struggle, and I am still entangled between the two even to this day. Is the individual pain and the scars of collective memory really so seamlessly integrated? Will individuals who are suffering from pain be encouraged when they see the struggle of the group? If what is shown is collective helplessness, individual struggles will appear "precious" and may not even be understood.

"Sound and Rhyme Poetry Journal" Myanmar Special Topic

Many cities have witnessed the struggles of generations, just like we have witnessed Hong Kong’s struggle and the helplessness it fell into, silently recording and enduring it; similarly, our bodies have given us the same benefits as our beloved city. a place for the soul to rest. We, us, us... fight, helpless; helpless, fight...

Then comes growth. Where to grow? It seems that only through struggle can one grow, right? What kind of despair is helplessness, I hope those who have never experienced it will never know how it feels. Struggle is change, and so is growth. The early spring of 2021 is such a season. I opened my eyes at the most painful place, stood up and moved on, and gained a year of growth. Just like the growth of a baby, any kind of growth involves pain and rebirth.

This palindrome poem written at the beginning of the year for the protesting Myanmar was mailed to me at the end of the year, as if it was to use the beginning to summarize the end. Suddenly I remembered Sartre’s saying, “All beginnings lead to endings.” Is that what he said? What a depressing sentence. It would be nice if some started and never ended, and it would be nice if some started and ended.

Again, this poem can be read forward, backward, backwards, and in one line. The starting point and the end point can be so similar.

remember

God is throwing sparks

Kill the children on the streets

husband and wife

brothers and brothers

Kill the children on the street

Holding hands, shoulder to shoulder

brothers and brothers

Say no calmly

Holding hands, shoulder to shoulder

Are you afraid of the fate of dying in battle?