Perhaps

Perhaps

Perhaps these thoughts of ours
will never find an audience

Perhaps the mistaken road
will end in a mistake

Perhaps the lamps we light one at a time
will be blown out, one at a time

Perhaps the candles of our lives will gutter out
without lighting a fire to warm us.

Perhaps when all the tears have been shed
the earth will be more fertile

Perhaps when we sing praises to the sun
the sun will praise us in return

Perhaps these heavy burdens
will strengthen our philosophy

Perhaps when we weep for those in misery
we must be silent about miseries of our own

Perhaps
Because of our irresistible sense of mission
We have no choice

- Shu Ting (translated by Carolyn Kizer)