The Exit Scene

The Exit Scene

"Oh, before I die, I'd like to confess to the Virgin Mary that I opened forbidden door in heaven. I've been so wicked by denying it all this time."

- The Virgin Mary's Child, Brothers Grimm

There are two, or maybe three scenes that are truly memorable for most people to experience in life. Two of them are set in hospital, parents bringing their babe into this world, panic, joy, tears and all that excitement in the labor room; and other rooms that occasionally stage the inevitable outcome for every patient to pass, family members take their turn to bid farewell, doctors and nurses are calm, and most patients seem know their time, they never struggle, and their relatives may choke silent sobs and consult with doctors in the hallway for the usual hospital proceeding after the death report signed.

There are things we keep for the last moment to say to our love ones, hmmm, to our relatives, and most of us either confess or praise, and rarely we swear to each other's face by the death bed say: "I wish you burn in hell!" or "Well, I guess I'll be up there watching you suffer then." like Confucius says: "a dying man's last words are for good." and it's truly stupid when we wait for whole life, for the last moment to confess, to ask forgiveness, or praise our loves, right. I never understand why people just wait? wait for what? No one is prepared for this mess, this fucking world. we are all hotheaded when we are young, we dream, we game, we taste new things, we go T-personalities, we fight for our 'faith'(whatever that means), and make babies... we make a lot mistakes, most of us fucked up living in this giant pyramid shape of resource distribution system, when the heaven pours that cataract of streams trickle down to random drops at the bottom hopeless class in most countries, and thinking of our parents, they were young and stupid too, they most of them were not as smart as we are, not matured as we are now, as our information tech leading our understanding about world and life. We are caught by our own device, our mad desire, become slaves of high tech, run around and serve our own products. There's no living manual to pursue happiness or to guard a safe place of hope, no cones ahead set to mark the potholes forward. Farmers unsure about weather, workers lose their factories, parents are helpless in front of their kids, struggling to play the victim/loser roles in current job-guarantee-home society. the roof is crack wide open.

And stupidity is that we see ourselves honorable that must hold our self-esteem in front our kids, that apology, truthful conversation, or those rare humane vulnerable moments that must come from outer universe in our existence, that until death (the Law of Existence) shatters our relationship we finally open up to pay the long past due debt, and for all that time, we make our love ones suffer, suffer for waiting, living in anger, dealing with unfairness for lifetime, people can be so selfish(stupid) that like this little girl even her three children taken away, they will not give up their stupidity, to just utter truth, say: "Yeah, I damn ate the forbidden fruits, it's sweet, delicious, I damn love it! Guess what! I want more! Hell Yeah!" or, Everyone wants baby, but living is hard, the world is cruel. Happy life for most people is not guaranteed. Is it fault to love, to be hopeful, to pass down the faithful seeds in this contaminated world?

And Why we wait for the last moment to give the power of speech, make that last moment dramatic, meaningful, that worth for npr story hour mic, when we spend lifetime deny, ignore? We don't win anything, we lose our countless chances to make our love ones happy.

There's no remedy for time lost, I bet that girl got gray hair like mine, when she smiled, she looked like she's crying. Virgin Mary gave back her children, for me it's the heaven I'm waiting for.

Hard Road (First of the Three Poem) by Li Bai

Hard Road (First of the Three Poem) by Li Bai

Laijon Liu 20170420

Gold cup and ten liter pure wine for ten thousand coins

jade platter served delicacies worth ten thousands too

but I put down the cup, drop the chopsticks, got no appetite

I draw my sword and look at surrounding blankly

Try to sail across the Yellow River

but ice seals its surface

Try to climb The Great Column Mount

but snow blankets everywhere

Or relax, drop a line fishing above the lime creek

But all of a sudden I again dream myself in a boat

rocking by the sun side

O, Hard Road, Hard Road

Everywhere there are hard rugged roads!

Where I’m at now? Where I can rest?

Steady wind breaks the waves, that should happen

Full sail into the clouds, to calm the troubled oceans!

Note:

I love this poem done by Li Bai, and I have read a few online translation done by fans, but seems not accurate. So I translate the whole poem here for readers to see Li Bai’s original composition style, his feeling, symbol terms meanings…

Chinese:

行路难（一）
李白

金樽清酒斗十千， 玉盘珍羞直万钱。
停杯投箸不能食， 拔剑四顾心茫然。
欲渡黄河冰塞川， 将登太行雪满山。
闲来垂钓碧溪上， 忽复乘舟梦日边。
行路难，行路难， 多歧路，今安在？
长风破浪会有时， 直挂云帆济沧海。

The Sleep and The Dance

The Sleep and The Dance

The Sleep
The first gift is virtue, the second, beauty, and every splendid thing( or talent) and all the best wishes for that princess, but she seems unconscious, seems dead, has never lived, falls asleep in a coma. One hundred years seem just a moment, and her whole kingdom falls asleep with her, they all eat, work and sleep, also do dream within a dream til that day comes they will realize they've never truly lived.

When she wakes, she suddenly enlightened that she was in a long asleep, even tho In sleep a king/queen, but waking no such matter, or in love or maybe in our self-love all along we chase, when we or any nation wake up from our pride, our self-identification, or the kings and the queens in their courts see themselves as commoners, then let go 'their' joysticks? when I start to realize that a victim can also cause so much pain, even more cruel than a monster.

A prince who dares, he is young, handsome, heroic, high horse and shining armour, a leading role for stardom, he is the sky-limit, and destined to fulfill the oracle or miracle, or break the spell... He is hotheaded, a foolhardy, sings tenor or falsetto, and wields his sword like his garden hose, to again save the day, wake the greatness of the past wonder... when we start to feel we are so special, more valuable than a bug or a fly, that we deserve the best and settle for nothing less.

How we rehearse our lines every morning, meticulously pick our fashion style, and pose again and again in front of the dressing mirror, and carefully exam ourselves before we step out of door, but I think I'm still drunk, not tipsy, just a little bit hang-over, or slight motion sickness from my wandering thoughts...

But so what if we are in a sleep? as long as we dream, right? and as long as we have good dreams, not nightmares? like we are all princes and princesses,we find each other, and share the same happily ever after ending. yes, thorns hurt us, but roses should grow in our bed.

The Dance
Put on the dancing shoes and glide
there's something about you
yes, maybe it's your crystal shoes
or maybe something else
that no one fits
yes, maybe it's your crystal shoes
or maybe something else
that makes the floor bright
no, it's not your crystal shoes
it's you, in ashes or in dirt
you always glow



 

Contrast Perspective of Hansel and Gretel by Grimm 1812 version

Contrast Perspective of Hansel and Gretel by Grimm 1812 version

Story:

A poor woodcutter lived on an edge of a large forest. He didn't have a bite to eat and barely provided the daily bread for his wife and two children.

Comment:

Woodcutter was poor and lived by a large forest, but could not provide bread.

It seems the woodcutter could not live off the land(the forest) by cutting and selling wood. Woodcutter vs Forest.

Forest symbolizes an environment, world or city, that individual struggles with his skill(what he is good at and makes living), the forest is symbol of food source, plenty, also a death zone for Hansel and Gretel, dangerous, lost, a place where their parents abandon them, kids are on their own , if they run out of their pebbles which symbolizes kids' wits, or they stupid using their bread crumbs then they are in trouble.

the woodcutter, the man, the husband, the Father symbolizes the provider role for his family.

The Mother supposes to play the loving, caring role, but she is the character decides and forces her husband to push her children out into the forest.

The Witch, the ancient woman who lives deep in the forest, somehow the woodcutter never knows her cake roof sugar window bread house, and she holds 2 kids hands led them into her house also contrasts the mother, that bread house contrasts with the woodcutter's home (hunger, cold and fear, struggling home in a real world) but in the bread house 2 kids sleep full tummies in beautiful beds for the night like in heaven, and second morning the Witch also symbolizes evil and danger of the forest about to devour them, the dark side of the world, cannibalism[1]. And that world imprisons the kids till they are consumed, not like their home kicks them out when the pots are empty. Poor kids, Hansel and Gretel being so young and fragile have to struggle to find their home and cry bloody tear, wish they are eaten by the wild animals in the forest, not being tortured and frightened in that bread house.

Story:

Then the old woman called, "Gretel, come here right now to the oven."

And when Gretel came, she said, "Look inside and see if the bread is nicely brown and done, for my eyes are weak, and I can't see that far. If you can't see that far either, then sit on the board, and I'll push you inside, then you can walk around inside and take a look."

But once Gretel was inside, the witch intended to close the door, and bake her in the hot oven, and eat her as well. That is what the wicked witch was thinking, and that is why she called Gretel.

However, God let Gretel know this, so she said, "I don't know how to do that. First show me. You sit on the board, and I will push you inside."

So the old woman sat on the board, and since she was light, Gretel pushed her all the way inside, then quickly closed the door and secured it with an iron bar.

Comment:

Hansel and Gretel are 2 kids sometimes witty and playful like cats, innocent and vulnerable like dove, they usually never last long in the forest, for them to survive and come back home with pocketful of jewels and pearls is truly a miracle and satisfying ending, but they have to do everything on the verge to save themselves many times, their sudden wits or stupid courage, or the wickedness they exposed to that they have learned, or luck, that they must play the strong role, not victims, to kill that witch, to survive that world.

Note:
[1]cannibalism: that man is considered as labor unit or other resource material, not as human being suppose to have basic living standard and rights. besides EU, there are about 15 million American children truly understand Hansel and Gretel folktale, and there are many children in our highly competitive global economy world see Hansel and Gretel is their story, thanks to Grimm brothers, and when I get on the NY Subway I wouldn't dare to look at passengers faces, they live and work in a jungle daily worry their work and life, they are the Hansel and Gretel toasted by the witch, they died in that oven long ago, they never grow up as adults, they fear, fear and constantly search for a solution to survive in this large forest. Exp:
Left-behind children: Link According to the 6th Population Census in 2010, there are approximately 61 million of Left-behind children in China, that is 21.88% of children in China. The 60% of left-behind children do not know the occupation of parent.The 30% of them can only meet parent once or twice a year, while 15% of them cannot meet parent once a year. Nearly 25%, which is 1.5 billion of children receive contacts from their parent less than 4 times a year.
Street Children: Link  
US Statistics on Poverty [Google Search Result] 43.1 million people (13.5 percent) were in poverty, including 14.5 million (20 percent) children under the age of 18. 42.2 million Americans lived in food-insecure households, including more than 13 million children.
Child-Selling:
Child Labor: Link
Migrant worker: Link

  

Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood

Laijon Liu 20170401

Bloom, you flaming youth

And bathe in burgundy

Do not be faint-hearted, my little girl

Kiss that prince of woods

Stare into his golden eyes

And read his ancient tales

Granny is making you her stew

That tastes like brave new world

Polish your long fingernails

Put on your silver fur coat

Lead your pack and hit the road

Make the nights boogie wild.