Notes of a Crocodile

by Qiu Miaojin

I’d become a refugee on the ocean, and in due time, I was drinking seawater.

What is the human race, anyway, but a multitude

Finding myself at the border of life and death, I followed her echo as it led me toward death.

My tears were not those of pain, but of remorse and acceptance.

‘Only healthy people are capable of being in love. Using love to treat an illness just makes the illness even worse.’

“You can’t hold on to a beautiful thing forever—not in your memory, not even if you keep loving it. If you tried, it would only die in your possession. Beauty must be free to run its course.”