Unsent Letters

1. To Qiuniang Master Crean teach me write. I dont want to write at first. He say learnin words is good, can write letters. Qiuniang, then I write to you, alright? I miss you. Keep thinkin... shoulda gone with you... ...... 2. To Miaowa I keep dremin of you, Miaowa. You and your ma gone both. How come I'm still here, still breathin... I farmed all them years. How'd I still let you and your ma starve? What kinda farmin is that... ...... 3. To Miaowa Miaowa, Pa failed you. I didn't watch you close... that dirt, you shouldnt eat so much, shouldnt eat so much... Pa knows you was hungry. Pa knows. Pa knows you was hungry... ...... 4. To Miaowa Pa knows more words now. More than before. If only I could teach em to you. They even give me a proper name. Liu Sinong. Heh. Pa got a real name now. Ain't just Gouzi no more. They say they're studyin farmin here. But farmin's just farmin. What's there to study? ...... 5. To Qiuniang This whole place is full of strange folk. They call me Master Sinong, call me Mister Farmer. Want me to write a book, too. A dirt-farmin man like me, all my life treated no better than a beast, and now they call me master? If only you and Miaowa was still here... That fortune-teller back in the village used to say folks get born again. Next life, you two go to a good home, hear? Eat your fill every day. But if the next place ain't no better... they say one day everybody'll have enough to eat. Can that be true? Can it really be true... that nobody goes hungry no more?