This Too is Everything by Shu Ting

Not all giant trees

Are broken by the storm;

Not all seeds

Find no soil to strike roots;

Not all true feelings

Vanish in the desert of man’s heart;

Not all dreams

Allow their wings to be clipped.

No, not everything

Ends as you foretold!

Not all flames

Burn themselves out

Without sparking off others;

Not all stars

Indicate the night

Without predicting the dawn;

Not all songs

Brush past the ears

Without remaining in the heart.

No, not everything

Ends as you foretold!

Not all appeals

Receive no response;

Not all losses

Are beyond retrieval;

Not all abysses

Mean destruction;

Not all destruction

Falls on the weak;

Not all souls

Can be ground underfoot

Ad turned into putrid mud;

Not all consequences

Are streaked with tears and blood

And do not show a smiling face.

Everything present is pregnant with the future,

Everything future comes from the past.

Have hope, struggle for it,

Bear these on your shoulders.