Eighth Post!

[hoisinsauce]

It's one thing if mankind is hunted to extinction by ChatGPT, but I really do object to being executed by Bing.

(https://secretfanspace.dreamwidth.org/2511.html?thread=3169743#cmt3169743 )

Welcome back! Fandom chat, misc creativity, internet weirdness, books, films, anything! Tell meme about it so we can get to the next post title!

(start a comment thread by replying to this post)

Comments

Poetry

[(Anonymous)]

Give meme a poem; it's good luck!

Re: Poetry - Fragment (断章) by Bian Zhilin (卞之琳)

[(Anonymous)]

你站在桥上看风景，
you stand on a bridge, watching the sights.
看风景人在楼上看你。
upstairs, the sightseers are watching you.
明月装饰了你的窗子，
the bright moon adorns your window;
你装饰了别人的梦。
you adorn someone else's dream.

A while back, I solved a puzzle in P&KU2 that involved reassembling well-known modern Chinese poems. Well, they're well-known to someone. Definitely not to me, because I never even got past the Tragedy of Gao Wenzhong lessons in Chinese school.

Anyways, I thought I'd share a few. This one is titled 'Fragment' because it was allegedly written as part of a longer poem, but the rest of it was scrapped, leaving only these few elegant and melancholy lines. You are as much a part of the world as you are an observer of it.

Re: Poetry - Fragment (断章) by Bian Zhilin (卞之琳)

[(Anonymous)]

This makes me wistful. I want to watch without being watched.

Re: Poetry - Fragment (断章) by Bian Zhilin (卞之琳)

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks, Chinese-poem dan!

I actually hate Chinese even though I've learned it, which has a lot to do with memorising the fuck out of Li Bai as a kid and not seeing what the fuss was about, so getting to see modern Chinese poems is a switch for me and I'm surprised I actually like it.

Do you have recs for a dan that wants to get back into it?

Re: Poetry - 面朝大海, 春暖花开 by Hai Zi (海子)

[(Anonymous)]

从明天起, 做一个幸福的人
starting tomorrow, i will be happy:
喂马, 劈柴, 周游世界
feed horses, split lumber, travel the world.
从明天起, 关心粮食和蔬菜
starting tomorrow, i will care for crops and vegetables.
我有一所房子, 面朝大海, 春暖花开
i have a house, facing the sea, as flowers bloom in the spring warmth.
从明天起, 和每一个亲人通信
starting tomorrow, i will send a message to all my loved ones:
告诉他们我的幸福
i will tell them of my happiness.
那幸福的闪电告诉我的
all that lightning flash of joy told me
我将告诉每一个人
i will tell it to everyone else.
给每一条河每一座山取一个温暖的名字
i will give every river, every mountain a gentle name.
陌生人, 我也为你祝福
stranger, i too wish you the best.
愿你有一个灿烂的前程
may you have a brilliant future.
愿你有情人终成眷属
may your lovers become family.
愿你在尘世获得幸福
may you find happiness on this mortal earth.
我只愿面朝大海, 春暖花开
i only wish to face the sea, as flowers bloom in the spring warmth.

Damn, all the poems I have are depressing as fuck. This one's particularly striking because it uses such positive language to convey despair - and it sure worked, because it apparently trips up high school students all the time and gets misquoted in real estate ads, of all things. But think carefully: if you are to be happy tomorrow, then what about today? If you face the sea, then how will you watch the flowers bloom?

It's hard for me not to read this as a suicide note. Hai Zi killed himself two months after writing this poem, at the very start of spring. He is quite possibly the most celebrated contemporary Chinese poet, but he was entirely unknown during his life and most of his poems were not even published until after his death.

Re: Poetry - 面朝大海, 春暖花开 by Hai Zi (海子)

[(Anonymous)]

春暖花开 is a stupidly hard phrase to translate, by the way. In Chinese, you can just slam four characters together and call them an idiom; in English, you have to add all these joining words that kill the elegance of the original phrase. Plus, you have to make a bunch of assumptions about parts of speech. If the original text says spring-warm-flower-bloom, is 'spring' a noun or an adjective? Does it modify 'warm' or 'flower' or 'bloom'?

When you read the original, you just feel the line. You read the phrase as a single atomic unit, so you don't have to worry about breaking it down into constituent parts. My interpretations are what feels right to me, but I'm not a poet and my wording is blunt and direct. Luckily, Hai Zi's poetry also uses simple language and clean imagery, but my flaws will probably show hard if I attempt anything more complicated.

Re: Poetry - 面朝大海, 春暖花开 by Hai Zi (海子)

[(Anonymous)]

DD

Ah, interesting. Yeah, I wouldn't have read despair into your translation without that context (maybe my fault for reading too fast); I read it as more of someone resolving to get their life together in the future and trying to count their blessings. I took the house with flowers facing the sea as literal because I was picturing one of those welsh ones with hydrangeas in the front garden. So I read it as unhappy (nobody tries to count their blessings when they're happy, and I did notice "starting tomorrow") but not THAT unhappy. Glad I don't work in real estate!

Re: Poetry - You are the April of the World (你是人间的四月天) by Lin Huiyin (林徽因)

[(Anonymous)]

— in praise of love
我说 你是人间的四月天；
i say: you are the april of the world;
笑响点亮了四面风；
your laughter sets the four winds alight;
轻灵在春的光艳中交舞着变。
nimbly mingling and dancing in the spring radiance.
你是四月早天里的云烟，
you are the delicate mist on april mornings,
黄昏吹着风的软，星子在
the softness with which twilight carries the wind, as the stars
无意中闪，细雨点洒在花前。
sparkle unaware, as the drizzling rain scatters atop flowers.
那轻，那娉婷，你是，
that gentleness, that grace, you are,
鲜妍百花的冠冕你戴着，
crowned with a vibrant hundred-flower laurel,
你是天真，庄严，
you are innocence, dignity,
你是夜夜的月圆。
you are the round moon every night.
雪化后那片鹅黄，你像；
the downy yellow after the snow melts, you seem;
新鲜初放芽的绿，你是；
the fresh green of the first new buds, you are;
柔嫩喜悦，水光浮动着你梦期待中白莲。
tender and joyous, the water shimmers about the white lotus your dreams await.
你是一树一树的花开，
you are tree after tree blossoming,
是燕在梁间呢喃，
you are the swallows murmuring in the eaves,
— 你是爱，是暖，
— you are love, are warmth,
是希望，
are hope,
你是人间的四月天！
you are the april of the world!

Finally, a happy poem that's actually happy. This one's exactly what it looks like - it was written either to commemorate fellow poet (and, uh, ex-boyfriend) Xu Zhimo (徐志摩) or to celebrate the birth of her newborn son.

Lin Huiyin was a brilliant, multi-faceted woman - professor, architect, writer, socialite. However, her achievements are irrevocably entangled with and overshadowed by those of her husband, Liang Sicheng (梁思成), who is considered both the father of modern Chinese architecture and responsible for preserving much of China's architectural history. She was his equal partner and collaborator, but she was denied a degree in architecture because of her sex and rarely worked under her own name.

Still, her husband clearly deeply respected her. In his later years, when asked to provide a resume of his works, he carefully labeled every single one as a collaborative effort between himself and his wife.

Re: Poetry - You are the April of the World (你是人间的四月天) by Lin Huiyin (林徽因)

[(Anonymous)]

https://language.chinadaily.com.cn/2015-06/12/content_20948186.htm

On a side note, I also found a collection of different translations of this poem. I'm not really sure what these translators' credentials are and some of them have clearly gone full Ezra Pound on the text, but it might be interesting if you want to check out how varied translations of a poem can be. Lin Huiyin's poem is fairly simple, but it does use some artistic imagery that's difficult to convey while keeping the style.

I especially liked the second one, which is a straight ripoff of Sonnet 18.

Re: Poetry - On Leaving Cambridge (再别康桥) by Xu Zhimo (徐志摩)

[(Anonymous)]

Softly I am leaving,
Just as softly as I came;
I softly wave goodbye
To the clouds in the western sky.

The golden willows by the riverside
Are young brides in the setting sun;
Their glittering reflections on the shimmering river
Keep undulating in my heart.

The green tape grass rooted in the soft mud
Sways leisurely in the water;
I am willing to be such a waterweed
In the gentle flow of the River Cam.

That pool in the shade of elm trees
Holds not clear spring water, but a rainbow
Crumpled in the midst of duckweeds,
Where rainbow-like dreams settle.

To seek a dream? Go punting with a long pole,
Upstream to where green grass is greener,
With the punt laden with starlight,
And sing out loud in its radiance.

Yet now I cannot sing out loud,
Peace is my farewell music;
Even crickets are now silent for me,
For Cambridge this evening is silent.

Quietly I am leaving,
Just as quietly as I came;
Gently waving my sleeve,
I am not taking away a single cloud.

Translation by Chen Guohua, side-by-side comparison here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xu_Zhimo#Cambridge_poem
Alternate translation with rhyme/meter by Silas Brown: https://ssb22.user.srcf.net/zhimo/

Oh, man. This is the one poem I actually recognize on sight - it's one of my mother's favorites and the last stanza is so elegant in its melancholy that I have it memorized. This translation is the one I was first introduced to; it's not perfect, but it's the 'canonical' one to me. Not sure if I'll ever truly understand the nostalgia appeal of idyllic college days at Cambridge or if I'll even make my way over there, but if I ever do, I'd like to visit the memorial stone that has lines from this poem on it.

I think all the poems I have left are long, so I'll probably only post the translation and link the raw text for the rest.

Re: Poetry - On Leaving Cambridge (再别康桥) by Xu Zhimo (徐志摩)

[(Anonymous)]

I missed the title, so the mention of Cambridge took me by surprise!

I have visited, but I didn't like it much, so if you want to preseve a romantic image of it, it may be best not to visit. Not that it's hideous or anything... I mostly remember it was cold and wet. XD King's College was pretty, suddenly coming into view from an alleyway. Other than that, I just have a blurry image of cold, green and mist.

Re: Poetry - Answer (回答) by Bei Dao (北岛)

[(Anonymous)]

vileness is the passport of the vile,
nobility is the epitaph of the noble.
here, look. in that gold-plated sky
drifts the crooked reflections of the dead.

the ice age has passed,
so why is there so much ice?
the cape of good hope was found,
so why do sails still contest the dead sea?

i came into this world
with nothing but paper, rope, and my shadow
so that before the judgement
i could pronounce the voices of the judged.

let me tell you, world:
i — do — not — believe!
if a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet,
then let me be one thousand and one.

i do not believe the sky is blue,
i do not believe the echo of thunder,
i do not believe dreams are false,
i do not believe death has no retribution.

if the sea must break its dam,
then let all its bitter water pour into my heart;
if the land must rise,
then let humanity choose the next peak to survive on.

a new turning point and the glittering stars
now fill an unobstructed sky.
those are five thousand years of hieroglyphs;
those are the watching eyes of those yet to come.

Original Chinese: https://baike.baidu.com/item/回答/5948321

Sad poem, happy poem - and now, we have the angry poem. Bei Dao wrote this poem in response to the Cultural Revolution; it's not entirely clear to me if it was wholly inspired by the first Tiananmen Square protests in 1976, but it became a rallying cry for the ill-fated Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

I'm not sure if it comes across well in translation, but this is a really intense poem. It's a repudiation of the violence and vileness that gave birth to the Cultural Revolution, but it's also an open challenge to the underpinnings of society that allow the same scene to play out in other times and other places. The historical context is necessary to fully understand why this poem exists, but I hope it still rings true beyond that.

Re: Poetry - Answer (回答) by Bei Dao (北岛)

[(Anonymous)]

It does!

(Though there was one stanza where I'm guessing I'm ignorant of mythology needed to parse it:

i came into this world
with nothing but paper, rope, and my shadow
so that before the judgement
i could pronounce the voices of the judged.

So am curious about that.)

Re: Poetry - To Love Life (热爱生命) by Wang Guozhen (汪国真)

[(Anonymous)]

我不去想，
i won't think about
是否能够成功 ，
if i will succeed.
既然选择了远方 ，
since i have chosen the distant path,
便只顾风雨兼程。
then i must follow it through wind and rain.
我不去想，
i won't think about
能否赢得爱情 ，
whether i can win love.
既然钟情于玫瑰 ，
since i have fallen for a rose,
就勇敢地吐露真诚 。
then i will bravely lay myself bare.
我不去想，
i won't think about
身后会不会袭来寒风冷雨 ，
if the cold wind and rain will follow me.
既然目标是地平线，
since my destination is the horizon,
留给世界的只能是背影 。
all i can leave the world is my silhouette.
我不去想，
i won't think about
未来是平坦还是泥泞 ，
whether the future is smooth or muddy.
只要热爱生命 ，
as long as you love life,
一切，都在意料之中。
all is within your grasp.

I've got nothing interesting to say about this poem. 'Wind and rain' is a common motif in poetry and it bothers me that it's repeated twice here, since neither one is particularly literal.

Re: Poetry - Stagnant Water (死水) by Wen Yiduo (闻一多)

[(Anonymous)]

这是一沟绝望的死水，
this is a hopeless ditch of stagnant water.
清风吹不起半点漪沦。
not even a fresh breeze can stir a ripple.
不如多扔些破铜烂铁，
may as well throw in metal odds and ends,
爽性泼你的剩菜残羹。
or simply pour your leftovers and trash.
也许铜的要绿成翡翠，
maybe copper will tarnish to jade;
铁罐上锈出几瓣桃花；
tin cans will rust to peach flowers.
再让油腻织一层罗绮，
then let the oily scum weave a fine gauze;
霉菌给他蒸出些云霞。
the bacteria transmute to mist and cloud.
让死水酵成一沟绿酒，
let stagnant water ferment to green wine,
漂满了珍珠似的白沫；
brimming with pearls of white foam;
小珠们笑声变成大珠，
little pearls transform laughing into big pearls
又被偷酒的花蚊咬破。
before they are broken by wine-stealing mosquitoes.
那么一沟绝望的死水，
such a hopeless ditch of stagnant water
也就夸得上几分鲜明。
can only boast such small delights.
如果青蛙耐不住寂寞，
if a frog cannot endure the loneliness,
又算死水叫出了歌声。
then even stagnant water will still croak a song.
这是一沟绝望的死水，
this is a hopeless ditch of stagnant water.
这里断不是美的所在，
this is not a place of beauty.
不如让给丑恶来开垦，
better to let the ugliness reclaim it
看它造出个什么世界。
and see what world it shall create.

This poem was written in 1925; the Chinese Civil War hadn't quite started yet, but tensions between the Nationalists and the Communists were high and dissatisfaction with government corruption was growing. Here, the 'stagnant water' of the title is a despairing, yet strangely hopeful metaphor for China itself.

I think this is the only poem here that has a clearly defined meter. Each line is composed of three two-character words with one three-character word interspersed within. Apparently, this meter is so unique to Wen Yiduo's poetry that someone wrote an entire article on it that I had to pull out of JSTOR. Maybe it's more clear this way:

这是／一沟／绝望的／死水，
清风／吹不起／半点／漪沦。
不如／多扔些／破铜／烂铁，
爽性／泼你的／剩菜／残羹。　

I have, of course, entirely neglected to reproduce this in English. I'm just a Dan, not a Poet.

Re: Poetry - Stagnant Water (死水) by Wen Yiduo (闻一多)

[(Anonymous)]

I have nothing insightful to say, but I am really enjoying this and finding interesting. Thank you.

Re: Poetry - Rainy Alley (雨巷) by Dai Wangshu (戴望舒)

[(Anonymous)]

holding an oil-paper umbrella,
wandering alone in a long, long
and lonely rainy alley,
i wish to encounter
a girl like a lilac,
tangled in bitter sorrow.

she is
lilac-like in hue,
lilac-like in scent,
lilac-like in her misery.
in the rain she is wistful,
wistful and uncertain.

she wanders in this lonely rainy alley,
holding an oil-paper umbrella.
like me,
just like me,
she meanders silently,
aloof, somber, and melancholy.

quietly, she walks closer,
closer, and casts
a glance like a sigh.
she drifts by
like a dream,
like a bleak and bewildering dream.

and like a spray of lilac
drifting by in a dream,
this lady drifts by me.
she quietly passes further, further,
until a crumbling bamboo wall
marks the end of this rainy alley.

in the lamenting rain
vanishes her hue,
disappears her scent,
dissipating even her
sighing gaze,
her lilac-like melancholy.

holding an oil-paper umbrella,
wandering alone in a long, long
and lonely rainy alley,
i wish to drift by
a girl like a lilac,
tangled in bitter sorrow.

Original Chinese: http://www.ccview.net/htm/xiandai/dws/dws001.htm

Some think the 'girl' in this poem is (once again) an allegory for China; others think that Dai Wangshu was just a 'famously depressed poet' with a bit of a penchant for unrequited love. Whatever it is, the imagery of the dream-like rainy alley and the lilac-like girl is striking. This poem is now displayed public in an alley (大塔儿巷) in Dai's native Hangzhou, where it does, in fact, rain half the year.

For some reason, this poem strongly reminds me of Ezra Pound's The Garden. Many of these modern Chinese poets were foreign-educated and made their name blending Western poetic sensibilities into the classical Chinese tradition, both in translations and original work. Dai Wangshu's specialty was French Symbolists, which is where my train of thought falls apart because Ezra Pound is neither French nor a Symbolist.

Re: Poetry - Some People (有的人) by Zang Kejia (臧克家)

[(Anonymous)]

some who live
are already dead;
some who die
still live on.

some people
ride on people's heads, shouting: 'look how great i am!'
some people
work like a horse for the people.
some people
carve their names in stone, imagining 'forever.'
some people
willingly become wild grass, waiting for the underground fire.
some people
live so that others cannot;
some people
live so that others may live better.

the ones who ride on people's heads
the people will throw them down;
the ones who work for the people
the people will remember forever!
the ones who carve their names into stone
their names will rot before their corpses do;
green grass can flourish
anywhere the spring wind blows.
the ones who live so that others cannot
their fates can be easily seen.
the ones who live so that others can
the crowd will hoist them up, higher, higher.

Original Chinese: https://baike.baidu.com/item/有的人/3554267

Well, this is some real straightforward poetry, all patriotism and revolution. Apparently it's a part of the sixth-grade curriculum in China. Since I aspire to one day have the Chinese proficiency of someone who graduated elementary school, I suppose I should be honored.

This poem was written to commemorate the thirteenth anniversary of Lu Xun's death. If you're not familiar with him, well - the best comparison is probably Charles Dickens, only a whole lot more famous and political. He wrote biting satirical short stories that lampooned old traditions and pushed for modernization and Westernization. More importantly, his writing popularized the use of simple vernacular in writing instead of complex literary and classical language. Chinese learners everywhere owe him a great debt.

Re: Poetry - A Generation (一代人) by Gu Cheng (顾城)

[(Anonymous)]

黑夜给了我黑色的眼睛
the dark night gave me dark eyes
我却用它寻找光明
yet i use them to seek the light.

Easiest poem I've ever translated. Gu Cheng was another 'famously depressed poet' who created complex, sometimes highly experimental poems - but these two simple lines are considered his magnum opus. Like Bei Dao and Hai Zi, he was one of the so-called 'Misty Poets' whose works were heavily shaped by the indelible impact the dark night of the Cultural Revolution and the student protests of the 70s and 80s had on their generation.

Re: Poetry - Longing for Home (乡愁) by Yu Guangzhong (余光中)

[(Anonymous)]

小时候
when i was little
乡愁是一枚小小的邮票
longing was a tiny postage stamp
我在这头
i was on this side
母亲在那头
my mother, on the other.
长大后
when i grew up
乡愁是一张窄窄的船票
longing was a narrow boat ticket
我在这头
i was on this side
新娘在那头
my bride, on the other.
后来啊
later on
乡愁是一方矮矮的坟墓
longing was a low gravestone
我在外头
i was outside
母亲在里头
my mother, inside.
而现在
and now
乡愁是一湾浅浅的海峡
longing is a shallow strait
我在这头
i am on this side.
大陆在那头
the mainland, on the other.

Not exactly subtle, right? This poem was written in 1972, twenty-three years after the KMT retreated to Taiwan and effectively ended relationships between the two governments. Like many from his generation, Yu Guangzhong still hoped for reconciliation.

Re: Poetry - I Love This Land (我爱这土地) by Ai Qing (艾青)

[(Anonymous)]

假如我是一只鸟，
if i were a bird,
我也应该用嘶哑的喉咙歌唱：
i too should use my hoarse throat to sing:
这被暴风雨所打击着的土地，
this land that has been battered by the storm,
这永远汹涌着我们的悲愤的河流，
this river that surges eternal with our grief,
这无止息地吹刮着的激怒的风，
this wind gusting endlessly in its wrath,
和那来自林间的无比温柔的黎明...
and from the woods, that incomparably gentle dawn...
— 然后我死了，
— and when i die,
连羽毛也腐烂在土地里面。
even my feathers will rot in the ground.
为什么我的眼里常含泪水？
why do my eyes so often well with tears?
因为我对这土地爱得深沉...
because i love this land so deeply...

I've entirely run out of interesting things to say here. This is the problem with lifting poetry off a puzzleset - all the poems had to be easily recognizable so we're stuck with a bunch of patriotic stuff that gets taught in schools. Ironic, really, considering Ai Qing was later branded a rightist and thrown into a labor camp during the Cultural Revolution. His experiences heavily influenced the work of his son, artist and political dissident Ai Weiwei.

Two more poems left and they're both long. Wish me luck.

Re: Poetry - Believe in the Future (相信未来) by Shi Zhi (食指)

[(Anonymous)]

when spiderwebs mercilessly seal my hearth,
when lingering ashes sigh over the sorrows of poverty,
i will continue to smooth over the ashes of disappointment,
and write in beautiful snowflakes: believe in the future.

when my purple grapes dissolve into deep autumn dew,
when my fresh flowers cling to someone else's arms,
i will still stubbornly use a frozen withered vine
to write on the cold and desolate ground: believe in the future.

i want my fingers to reach the horizon like the waves do,
i want to hold the sun in my palm like the sea does,
with the flickering dawn on a warm and beautiful pen
i write in a child's handwriting: believe in the future.

i can so unfailingly believe in the future
because i believe in the eyes of future people —
she has lashes that scatter the dust of history,
she has pupils that see through the pages of time.

it does not matter what people think of our rotting flesh,
that melancholy of the lost, the pain of that loss,
whether it is with compassionate tears and deep empathy,
or a dismissive sneer and biting ridicule.

i firmly believe that when people judge our backbone,
all that finding and losing, failing and succeeding,
will certainly bring about a friendly, fair, and objective result.
yes, i will nervously wait for their judgement.

friend, keep unfailingly believing in the future.
believe in indomitable hard work,
believe in youth overcoming death,
believe in the future; love your life.

Original Chinese: https://baike.baidu.com/item/相信未来/56396

A lot of these poets wrote under pseudonyms, but most of them actually resembled, y'know, names. This guy is named 'index finger.' At first I thought it meant 'finger-eater.' Chinese is a language of compound words and sometimes I forget unfamiliar ones.

When I was looking for more information on this poem or poet, a lot of the descriptions mentioned that his work is 'rather melodramatic' and 'agreed upon by critics to be not very good but his passion makes up for it.' He certainly has a way with symbolism and imagery; someone has painstakingly added a whole section to the Baidu page explaining every symbol that appears in the poem, just in case you needed to know that 'beautiful snowflakes' represents purity and 'lingering ashes' represents hope and longing.

Re: Poetry - To the Oak (致橡树) by Shu Ting (舒婷)

[(Anonymous)]

if i am to love you—
i will never be like the clinging trumpet vine,
borrowing your tall branches to display myself.
if i am to love you—
i will never be like a lovesick bird,
repeating monotonous tunes to green foliage.
nor like the spring water,
offering cool solace year after year;
or like the mountain vista,
adding to your height, contrasting your majesty.
or even sunlight,
even the spring rain.
no, those are still not enough!
i must be a red kapok by your side,
standing with you as a fellow tree.
roots, intertwined in the ground,
leaves, brushing in the clouds.
with every breeze that passes,
we will greet each other,
but no human
will understand our words.
you have your copper branches and iron bark,
like knives, like swords,
like spears;
i have my bright red flowers,
like a deep sigh
or a heroic torch.
we share the cold, the storms, the thunder;
we share the mist, the breeze, the rainbows.
as if we are eternally separated,
yet we will always be together.
this, now, is great love.
this is where loyalty lies.
love—
not just to love your towering figure,
but also your steadfast presence, the land beneath your feet.

Original Chinese: https://baike.baidu.com/item/致橡树/2058823

One night, one of Shu Ting's mentors complained to her: 'Beautiful girls have no talent; talented girls have no beauty. And the few girls who are both beautiful and talented have bad personalities. It's impossible to find a perfect girl.' Well, Shu Ting thought that was a whole crock of misogynistic bullshit, so she went home, wrote this poem, and handed it to him the next day. It would later be her first published poem.

Re: Poetry

[(Anonymous)]

https://nitter.net/rsbergfjord/status/1680403183548375041#m

Very strong non-sexual-orange-lust vibe.

Re: Poetry

[(Anonymous)]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/jan/19/familyandrelationships.family2

I initially wanted to read more about Sibyl Ruth because of her court case ( https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/sibyl-ruth-free-speech-rights/ ), and thought others might be interested in the article.