They fill the skies with the
Robotic Eyes of automaton butterflies.²
Not even the Smallest Deviation of Opinion
On the most unimportant subject can be Tolerated—³
Certain Phrases can no longer be spoken so
Lightly, certain Acts no longer, or at least
No longer so unhesitatingly, Performed—⁴
One may Write of Mist—
But may not Write of Rain—⁵
We are permitted to shriek in the
Tongue of dwarfs and Demons—but
Pure and Generous words are forbidden.⁶
A word has Abolished another word, a book
Has issued orders to Burn another book.⁷
For each Tongue they silence—
A word in our mouth Unsays itself—⁸
When you tear out a man’s Tongue you are
Not proving him a liar—you are only telling
The world that you Fear what he might Say!⁹
They are painting everything White, but the
Walls are Shouting underneath the paint—¹⁰
¹ Philip Whalen, Take I
² Lisa Olstein, I Saw a Brand New Look
³ George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
⁴ Michel Foucault, Questions of Method
⁵ Arthur Waley, Censorship
⁶ Czesław Miłosz tr. Czesław Miłosz, A Task
⁷ Bel Dao, The Morning’s Story
⁸ Denise Levertov, Thinking About El Salvador
⁹ George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings
¹⁰ John Berger, From A to X