A personal piece inspired by the words and the people that do not exist in Confucius’ Analects.

Dao Ling is a cisgender, queer Taiwanese American writer who works in poetry and creative nonfiction, among other genres, to contribute to the abundance and diversity of truths in our mysterious, complex world. She wants to tell stories in way that make more room for others to tell theirs. Dao has received a poetry fellowship from Kundiman, an organization dedicated to the creation and cultivation of Asian American literature. By day, Dao is an office worker learning from and supporting China’s environmental movement. She also has a background in labor organizing, museum education and exhibitions, and searching for the Chinese diaspora in Latin America.

Image: “Innocent” by Dustin Yang, from his Into the Wood series.