What Is A Dissident? And Other Questions.
‘China Has No Dissidents’
[Chinese Government statement, late June 2017]
What could a dissident be?
A sibilant discord
a stand-up comic
an artist, or just someone
who disagrees with authority?
No dissidents in this land. Persons who
encourage state subversion are criminals.
They shall be punished as such.
Manifestos are not for citizens to write.
What to do with these embarrassing blips
of humanity, heroes to hidden hearts
that rumble inwards, cheering, remaining
more cowardly, or more pragmatic?
Because what happens to dissidents?
They spend years in jail, coming out to die.
If courage haunts them, livens their mind,
their bodies are crushed in the spotlight.
Do dissident words dissolve
into the consciousness of the people,
do they bide their time?
Gradually sift themselves through the
censor’s sieve, re-align?
Ascend as arrows darting
into the country’s future
pinning open a new page.
For Liu Xiaobo, July 2017
Related:
You Wait For Me With Dust - Liu Xiaobo
The Lesson of Liu Xiaobo - Tammy Ho
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