Ürümchi.
Huge
Desolate
Angry.
We came with high hopes for a new life
A free life.
We came to find the same tekshurush*
That we already knew so well.
The sun beating down
No jobs
No money
No food
No water to bathe in
No way out.
Just signs that declare the minzu tuanjie** of the pomegranate
And facile security guards sleeping and watching porn.
Not keeping us safe and not giving us freedom either.
Are you my Big Brother?
Closed in like animals
Segregated like criminals
Spied on like traitors
Or maybe we are traitors…
After all, who gives a shit about the Olympics when it’s a bunch of tiny Kitay
with tiny dicks playing ping pong?
with tiny dicks playing ping pong?
All I know is that what happens in this life is not as important as the next.
So I’ll keep praying to Allah.
At least I have my children.
-August 2016, anonymous (a Uyghur research participant’s poem)
*tekshurush means "investigation." It is the Uyghur word used to describe security checks,
such as a metal detector or an ID check.
**minzu tuanjie (民族团结) means "ethnic solidarity." It is the Chinese phrase used in propaganda
messages about all the minority populations coming together in solidarity under the banner of
Chinese nationalism.
*tekshurush means "investigation." It is the Uyghur word used to describe security checks,
such as a metal detector or an ID check.
**minzu tuanjie (民族团结) means "ethnic solidarity." It is the Chinese phrase used in propaganda
messages about all the minority populations coming together in solidarity under the banner of
Chinese nationalism.
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