English Original
bloodshed
we step into it again
the same river
Frameless Sky, 16, 2022
Julie Schwerin
Chinese Translation (Traditional)
流血不止
我們再次踏入
同一條河
Chinese Translation (Simplified)
流血不止
我们再次踏入
同一条河
Bio Sketch
Julie Schwerin (she/her - Sun Prairie, Wisconsin) is an associate editor at The Heron's Nest , author of Walking Away From the Sunset (Brooks Books, 2023) and What Was Here (Folded Word Press, 2015).
L1 sets the tone and mood while Ls 2&3 turn Greek philosopher Heraclitus' observation of the impact of time's passing -- "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man," meaning EVERYTHING is constantly CHANGING -- into a historically significant and sociopolitically poignant remark on "a perpetual war, endless war or forever war:"
ReplyDeletewe step into it again [, again and again ...]
the same river of BLOOD
The only thing we learn from history is that we learn NOTHING from history.
-- German philosopher Georg Hegel
The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.
― George Orwell
I would like to share the following tanka, written by by the most famous Buddhist monk-poet Saigyo’s (1118–1190 AD), with the longest prefatory note:
In the world of men it came to be a time of warfare. Throughout the country -- west, east, north, and south -- there was no place where the war was not being fought. The count of those dying because of it climbed continually and reached an enormous number. It was beyond belief! And for what on earth was this struggle taking place? "A most tragic state of affairs"
There's no gap or break
In the rank of those marching
Under the hill:
"An endless line of dying men,
Moving on and on and on ..."
FYI: Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law, accessed at https://geneva-academy.ch/galleries/today-s-armed-conflicts: Today, it monitors more than 110 armed conflicts and provides information about parties, the latest developments, and applicable international law. Some of these conflicts make the headlines, others do not. Some of them started recently, while others have lasted for more than 50 years