所谓永恒

时间匆匆地去了
我们却还站在
那个已不存在的地方

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The Chilean miners, after being trapped underground for more than two months, have finally ascent to the surface safe and sound. And the whole world are celebrating their rebirth.

It’s an itchy topic for China, which lose miners in the hundreds each year in accidents. Only that the accidents were not so accidental. Without proper regulation and strict execution, one can almost expect China’s coal and minerals to continue being blood-stained.

Many feel indignant when they compare the Chilean miner rescue to the Wangjialing Coal Mine Flood, which were portrayed as a miraculous rescue by the officials, despite the (reported) 23 casualties. Not only did the Chilean rescue yield more successful results, the way the miners and their family were treated and reported also contrasted the concealment, isolation and media suppression from the Chinese government.

Chinese people wonder why the same couldn’t happen in their own country. Some miners in China expressed envy on the provision of safety facilities and shelters underground, saying only the few largest mines in China can afford similar shelters that are common in Chilean mines. Dwarfed in more ways than one, Beijing has apparently zipped press in the news coverage of the Chilean rescue, and further ridiculed its reaction by over-emphasizing the use of a Chinese-made crawler crane in the rescue.

Mining accidents should never be anticipated. Nonetheless, when it happens, which almost certainly will in China, I hope it could be handled more like the way the Chileans have exemplified for us. I would feel really proud of my country when that day comes, and until then, I just cannot stop asking, “why not?”

蒸发

你伸出粗糙的手臂挽它

它挣脱不开，竟也依偎入怀

漫长旅途里

命运把轨道铺设

它便伴着列车的隆隆声入眠

岔口一再降临，于是在梦里

奔忙于无数可能的世界：

每一个光亮尽头

都是通往天空的出口

哪怕到站时已经粉身碎骨

亦无碍于飞翔

在三千英尺之上

寂静是唯一的声响

就这样默默作别罢——

我抬头看云的时候

总念想它最初的模样