DISCOVERY

even ants tremble at nightfall

even stones suffer insomnia

even moonlight’s so polluted men’s shadows thin to mist

even the mountaintop swells as if ready to blow

even the Tang Dynasty fell into decline

even in the trashcan people are living

even optimists are uncertain how to live

even men with fallen shoulders want to leave home

even the tiger was beaten down by Wu Song

even Wu Song can be scourged for his crimes and put in chains,

even the law has holes

even wickedness finds a gallant excuse

even good looking women hug themselves

even the most beautiful prattle on

even Kwan-yin grows breasts

even Sai Jinhua got famous

even the doctor has gonorrhoea, but keeps working

even the drunkard knows to go home, if only he could remember where

even birds of May learn to be silent

even the soulless can cry “Help!”

even children love the new and quietly loathe the old

even devils and ghosts are arrayed in gorgeous mantles

even the blind fortuneteller lowers his head before destiny

even the dead have worries

when night slips on its terrible silence

I walk through empty Wangfujing, muttering these words over and over

stars avoid my eyes

a huge black tree snatches at my waist