Lost in the Woods

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Shu Fang

After “Downed Parts of My Body” by Jieyan Wang

Sept 2023

I often dream, lost in forests
Drowned in a sea of wood
Amidst the sea of faces, all the same
Losing my identity, losing my names

木, Chinese for wood
Within a stack of wood, emerges 森, a forest
Thousands of identical faces
Immobilized, indifferent, ignorant

But yet I am 人, a human
With a heart that beats and a mind that thinks
I refuse to be another piece of 木
Confined to the cross, identities sink

Place 人 among 木, you get 树
Pronounced shu, as my name, as a man lost in woods
Chains to the ground, roots to not move
Dyeing my colors in similar hues

Break 木 from the cross, you get 人
A unique spirit, struggling to be free
Shouting for identity
For I am 树, a human lost in the woods