Chen-ou Liu's Translation Project: First English-Chinese Haiku and Tanka Blog

Thursday, July 21, 2022

Imagine

"Canada is one of the richest countries, now with significant surplus in its federal budget; therefore, there is no justification for not massively engaging in the improvement of the situation of all those that face inadequate housing and living conditions." After the UN Rapporteur on adequate housing made his concluding statement in March 2008, a silence fell over the conference room. Not a single question was asked.

For the reporters, these words, "massively engaging in the improvement," came across loud and clear many times from the politicians standing side by side in the spacious, high-ceilinged foyer of the House of Commons. As the preacher in Ecclesiastes once claimed, "what has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." 

outside the shelter
a snow-covered sidewalk
except the patch
where a man and dog sleep 
this omicron winter