One Letter
(for Liu Xia)
one letter is enough
for me to transcend and face
you to speak
as the wind blows past
the night
uses its own blood
to write a secret verse
that reminds me each
word is the last word
the ice in your body
melts into a myth of fire
in the eyes of the executioner
fury turns to stone
two sets of iron rails
unexpectedly overlap
moths flap toward lamp
light, an eternal sign
that traces your shadow
Translated by Jeffrey Yang
Liu Xiaobo is one of China’s preeminent dissident writers and activists. He was arrested in December 2008 on the eve of the release of Charter 08, an extraordinary declaration he had co-authored calling for political reform, greater human rights, and an end to one-party rule. On 25 December 2009, Liu was convicted of ‘incitement to subversion’ for his role in Charter 08 and for several online articles. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Liu has spent much of his adult life as a target of the Chinese government. He played a crucial role in the 1989 pro-democracy movement, staging a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square in support of the students. Despite spending two years in prison for his role, he continued to speak out in favour of freedom of expression and democracy. As such, he spent an additional three years in a re-education-through-labour camp and was regularly detained and harassed until his most recent arrest.
In 2010, Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his long and non-violent struggle for human rights in China. He is the only Nobel laureate currently in detention.
TAKE ACTION
Write for Liu Xiaobo
We are keen for our members to respond to creatively to PEN’s cases of concern and their work. You can also show your support for Liu Xiaobo by sending letters of appeal to the Chinese authorities and writing messages of support to Liu. For more details, please email cat@englishpen.org
Join us for Freedom Cells
Next Saturday, 19 May, the Old Police Cells Museum in Brighton will be playing host to an afternoon of films by human rights filmmakers, artists and students. A temporary pop-up cinema space under the cells in Brighton Town Hall will show a selection of features and short films about the ongoing struggle for freedom of expression and the political prisoners at the forefront of this struggle.
The day opens at 12pm with a free screening of ‘I Have No Enemies: A Portrait of Liu Xiaobo’ – for more details and to book, please click here.