On 'regret and convince'

January 18, 2006 Sheng Xing's poem {id="1079" title="regret and convince"} at first sight appears relatively straightforward and simple, perhaps too simple. In its repetitive structure and formulaic sentences – the poem consists of 16 lines of imperatives – it is reminiscent of the earliest forms of poetry: chants, spells, mantras. Yet paradox lies at the heart of it. Far from lulling us into a sense of security or restfulness, disquiet grows with every line. If the first goals set before the reader are perhaps still attainable for the best and bravest amongst us (“fall in love with a stone and not regret it”), it gets harder and harder as each subsequent line orders us to attempt the impossible. By the time the poem concludes with “convince yourself to go to fall quietly asleep”, we feel almost impossibly awake. Not just a lovely poem in its own right, “regret and convince” is the enactment of an aesthetic concept – great poetic form will induce in the reader an impossibly heightened ‘wakefullness’ – and thus a fitting way to open this site.