the day a Chinese man won the Nobel Prize

It was Oct 8, Friday, 2010,
just one of the days for me, who was bombarded
by emails from customers--
emails with enquiries,
emails with complaints,
emails for information,
emails carbon copied by my colleagues,
emails I didn't bother to open and clicked
                                                               "delete".
A new email popped out--
"Dear Damien, Can you reply to this email for me? Regards!"
It was from my manager, who was sitting one metre away
with his back against me, busy typing on his computer.
"Sure, no problem. Best wishes." I replied.


It was 5 o'clock pm. Everybody seemed to be hectic
in the office, where computers were lined
in the room walled
by transparent windowpanes, through which
could be seen giant columns of unfinished skyscrapers.
A flashing dot was on and off atop
a scaffolded building exposed in grey cement.
Against the foggy tasteless sky, I recognized
that solitary
dot
was a human being welding
on the man-made dead creature in mid-air.


I stared at my reflection on the window and suddenly
noticed a pimple coming out
above my lip.
The food in Chongqing has really messed
up my body. I thought to myself as I pinched
the red lump that was stubbornly rooted
in my flesh. My belly has been full, but
my mind has been empty.


Turning back to my computer-- my livelihood gadget, I started
filling in the rigid forms, compiling bureaucratic documents and writing
emails that would never come to an end. Then I decided
to close them all, and opened
twitter. The screen was exploded--
Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The news was overflowing all over the world, the world
my country has blocked out.


I typed "刘晓波" on my mobile phone and clicked 
                                                                           "to send the message"
"Transmission denied."
Simultaneously, a feedback was received.
I changed "刘晓波" into a hybrid of Chinese characters and English letters and clicked
                                                                                                                                  "to send the message"
"Cool!" "Brilliant!" "Fucking great!"
Friends texted me back. 
I realized the situation I was in--
First they took the person,
now they have taken his name.


The office was still in a hectic state-- both man and machine.
My colleague next to me was talking on the phone with her client
The copier was making robotic sounds and spitting out
documents that nobody enjoyed reading.
I was in my chair watching the world.
My heart was beating.