{"id":8465,"date":"2019-06-17T09:47:46","date_gmt":"2019-06-17T13:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=8465"},"modified":"2019-06-18T09:53:48","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T13:53:48","slug":"michael-allyn-wells-tiananmen-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/michael-allyn-wells-tiananmen-mother","title":{"rendered":"Michael Allyn Wells: Tiananmen Mother"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"\u2014for Zhao Ziyang<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The Beijing breeze whispers<\/div>\n
mournful strophes.<\/div>\n
Tears like the mountain rains<\/div>\n
follow slopes<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

to tributaries until they become one<\/div>\n
with the rippling waters of the Yangtze.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I am a Tiananmen mother.<\/div>\n
My eyes have swelled<\/div>\n
with this sadness before.<\/div>\n
The wetness follows a path<\/div>\n
well rehearsed.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My nights are immense.<\/div>\n
I am but a lone bare branch<\/div>\n
in a cold, dark world.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
They replicate<\/div>\n
that June night<\/div>\n
etched in my soul<\/div>\n
over and over.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My son stood<\/div>\n
in the Square<\/div>\n
armed only<\/div>\n
with a vision<\/div>\n
and they came-<\/div>\n
The People’s Army.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My son stood<\/div>\n
in Tiananmen Square,<\/div>\n
amid a sea of other<\/div>\n
sons and daughters<\/div>\n
and they came-<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
armored tanks<\/div>\n
clanking along the streets into Tiananmen<\/div>\n
driven by fear, ordered by paranoia.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Our sons and daughters<\/div>\n
toppled to the earth<\/div>\n
at their hands.<\/div>\n
Crimson crawling into every crevice<\/div>\n
Of these ancient Chinese streets<\/div>\n
A stain still upon us today.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I cannot count the nights<\/div>\n
I’ve wept for my son since.<\/div>\n
Today, I weep for another.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There is no official news<\/div>\n
but the Beijing breeze whispers again.<\/div>\n
This time for the death of the old man.<\/div>\n
There are guards of fear<\/div>\n
stationed outside my door.<\/div>\n
The lump in my throat is big,<\/div>\n
I cannot begin to swallow,<\/div>\n
that is how I know the truth.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Guilt always gnawing at my heart.<\/div>\n
I could not help my son that June night.<\/div>\n
Again as I am helpless.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I want to pay my respects<\/div>\n
to the old man who stood up<\/div>\n
for my son and others<\/div>\n
massacred in Tiananmen,<\/div>\n
but the thugs watch<\/div>\n
my every move.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I am a Tiananmen mother.<\/div>\n
It is my duty to weep<\/div>\n
for the lost ones.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a9 2005 Michael A. Wells<\/div>\n

Source: http:\/\/stickpoetsuperhero.blogspot.com\/2019\/06\/ii-interrupt-confession-tuesday-to.html?m=1<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2014for Zhao Ziyang The Beijing breeze whis … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[2085,2086],"views":3155,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8465"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8467,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8465\/revisions\/8467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}