wove fishnets and caught fish
Large sailing ships from the West appeared
blocking out the sun
Fifty years later they shunned the farmed plains
Returning to the forests to hunt
Aside from fighting over the land
We lived in peace with each other
When the Japanese came, what was termed 'civilizing the savages'
Was in fact flogging, from the coast to the mountains
We've been like duckweed the last century..."
By Taiwanese poet Walis Nokan
