I See a War

I see a war, an invisible war
Being waged in everyone's facial expression
Being waged in countless loudspeakers
Being waged in the ever-frightened look in everyone's eyes
Being waged in the nerve stems beneath everyone's cerebral cortex
It is devastating everyone   Devastating every part end element of people's
      bodies and minds
It uses invisible weapons to press the attack, invisible bayonets, cannons
      and bombs to press the attack
This is an evil war
It is the intangible extension of a tangible war.
It is being waged in the front windows of bookstores
Waged in libraries, and in every song that is taught and sung
Waged in the first year textbooks of grade-schools
Waged in every actor's actions and lines and ever performer's posturing,
      all exactly the same
I see bayonets and soldiers patrolling the lines of my poems
To search into everyone's consience
A stupid, benighted and harsh power oppresses all, dominates all
In face of this terrible unprecedented attack
I see sexual relations in decay
The living in a state of mental disorder
Schizophrenia spreading unchecked, individuality eliminated
Ah, you invisible war, you evil war
You are the continuation and extension of 2,500 years of war to
      consolidate feudal power
You are the concentration and expansion of 2,500 years of war
      to enslave people's minds
You bomb   You blast   You kill   You slaughter
But human nature does not die, conscience does not die, people's
      freedom of spirit does not die
The natural instincts and desires of man's body and soul
Can never be wrenched away or wholly destroyed

Huang Xiang

Huang Xiang was born in Hunan Province in China in 1941.

Huang began writing poems in the 1950s. In 1978, he founded Enlightenment, China's first underground writers’ society during this era, and started a literary magazine with the same title. From 1959 to 1997, Huang was incarcerated six times and spent a total of 12 years in jail. He continued to write even though he was tortured for his work, which was completely banned.

He has lived in exile in the United States since 1997. Huang has published poems and essays, and a bilingual edition of his Out of Communist China was published in 2003. 

He currently lives in Pittsburgh where he is the writer-in-residence for Cities of Asylum/Pittsburgh.

PEN