Published in Overland Issue 235 Winter 2019 Uncategorized The waiting Ouyang Yu In a play, someone living is pretending to be someone dead Someone dead comes alive in another name That’s one way to look at history Or to make it Track changes, all marked up Change without a trace That’s another way to look at history Or to correct it Things are born in the wrong They wait to be put right The waiting is called history The waiting is long Image: Jonathan Adeline on Unsplash Read the rest of Overland 235 If you enjoyed this poem, buy the issue Or subscribe and receive four brilliant issues for a year Ouyang Yu Ouyang Yu's most recent publication is a translation in English of Zhang Meng’s collection of poetry, Reverberations, by Puncher & Wattmann, and a novel, All the Rivers Ran South, forthcoming with the same publisher. More by Ouyang Yu Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 27 January 2023 Cartoons In attacking us, they bring us together Sam Wallman 'What these bosses don't understand is that in attacking us, they bring us together.' (Paddy Crumlin, Maritime Union of Australia, Svitzer Rally November 2022) 2 First published in Overland Issue 228 24 January 202325 January 2023 Politics The end of the politics of care Giovanni Tiso The daily spectacle of televised briefings was not unique to New Zealand, and it may simply be the case that Ardern thrived when given the opportunity to speak to the public directly—in other words, that she was better than others at it. Alternatively, we could say that her rhetoric found in the pandemic the ground on which to turn into concrete action. Either way, the benefits we derived in terms of lives saved from the remarkable extension of that social license are literally incalculable.
