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Between Infinite Worlds
【Start.】
This paean represents my faith.
The Tower of Babylon could take me to the sky.
So, I spared no effort to build the skyscraper.
Even as my torch burnt the horizon.
Above, another round of the moon,
I believe it’s rounder than the last one.
I’m one of the superiors who love the sky.
Gaze only upwards,
Collecting bricks, smoothing mortar
Ascending, ascending,
Leaving enough to stand, to avoid the fall.
Faster than you, and you, and you.
I aim to catch up with you, and you, and you.
I’m never satisfied.
Nobody would hate this game of building and chasing.
Only weirdos speak nonsense,
Describing its ingenious mechanism as a loop,
Crawling between the green and numerous Towers of Babylon,
Saying they will cross sideways to the edge of the world.
Some began on the hills, others two floors higher,
Some in the layer above the sky of mine,
But they are nothing,
Compared to my youth and energy,
I had my own way to go up and high.
After ages passed away with the dusk,
The nights sank into white mists with the moon,
After the world is silent,
Numerous lonely souls slept with the wet cement under the sky,
Wrinkles climbed on the eye of dawn,
Our world came to its end of life.
At last,
I was standing on the 99th Towel of Babylon.
At the end of the 99th sky,
Was the place I put my first brick?
---Suddenly I become one of the weirdos
Who says the world is a Möbius loop,
An infinite world.
I loathe it, I criticize it, yet I am still intoxicated,
The tower’s peak grows smaller and smaller,
Countless peaks gaze down on me,
As I fall to the edge of the world.
I turned my eyes to the far east,
The true kingdom, suddenly before me,
I grasp a corner of the horizon,
Tearing through another layer of night.
The flood tilts.
【Restart】【Yes.】
【Start】
This paean represents my faith.
The Tower of Babylon could take me to the sky...
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Postscript
In Ted Chiang’s story Tower of Babylon, people built this skyscraper in order to reach the sky and meet God. However, after the tower reached the end of the sky, a flood came down, and a new group of people appeared, building another Tower of Babylon in front of the main character. I think this science fiction perfectly captures the idea of infinity and illusion in a fancy way.
I first read this story when I was in 8th grade, and I read it again last year. This time, I felt a strong connection between my peers’ life and the story. When we were in elementary school, we were all chasing for goals like being in the top 10 of our class, getting a “Distinction” in the PET exam, or winning a gold medal in a competition, etc. We told ourselves things would be better once we got to junior high school. But even after we got there, rankings and the pursuit of an offer letter kept pushing us forward without a break. We told ourselves the same comforting stories and the results were the same. We are still chasing after we are in 10th grade. Maybe in the future, offers from prestigious universities, job opportunities, and other things will keep us chasing. We are always waiting for freedom, a time when we can stop competing with others and finally do what we want---not just creatures fighting for survival. But that time never seems to come. Just like building the Tower of Babylon in Chiang’s story.
So, I wrote this poem. Although it’s not a poem with rhythm and beautiful words. “I” could represent everyone in the society. Each Tower of Babylon represents our work. The game of chasing after success is the rule of the real world, and the differences in people’s speeds show their different abilities. The “weirdos” are the ones who know the truth and start doing their own things. In our society, they could be travelers, artists, poets, philosophers, or just people who do what they love instead of only chasing after “success”. However, even when “I” see the truth at the end of life, when the “I” starts a new life, the person ends up doing the same type of work again. I want to use this to represent our situation in society: most of the time, even if we know the truth, the pressure from society can still stress us out, so we end up staying in the same old frame.
Am I criticizing this phenomenon, or am I just telling a story using metaphors, expressing my sadness, or just sharing my idea? I’m not sure about my purpose. But I know I’m one of the workers, trying to escape, too.