"Also All" by Shu Ting

“Also All (in answer to Bei Dao’s ‘All’)” by Shu Ting [trans. Donald Finkel and Jinsheng Yi] (literature text, p. 219)

Not all trees are felled by storms.
Not every seed finds barren soil.
Not all the wings of dream are broken,
nor is all affection doomed
to wither in a desolate heart.

No, not all is as you say.

Not all flames consume themselves,
shedding no light on other lives.
Not all stars announce the night
and never dawn. Not every song
will drift past every ear and heart.

No, not all is as you say.

Not every cry for help is silenced,
Nor every loss beyond recall.
Not every chasm spells disaster.
Not only the weak will be brought to their knees,
Nor every soul be trodden under.

It won’t all end in tears and blood.
Today is heavy with tomorrow –
the future was planted yesterday.
Hope is a burden all of us shoulder
though we might stumble under the load.