I am not superstitious,
magic and paranormal events
are beneath my elevated education.
I live in an era without miracles,
and wherever mystery persists
the merciless boot of reason soon arrives
to crush what once was
inspiration for poets,
a subject for philosophers
and an epiphany for saints.
I trust in the advances of science,
in the calculations of experts
and in the erudition of scholars.
I trust in the weather forecast,
in the explanations of technicians
and in the absolute truth of numbers.
Gone are the idols,
the gods,
and the amulets.
There is no doubt in me.
but, just in case, when I walk down the street
I make sure not to step on the lines
between the concrete slabs of the sidewalk.
When I pass a construction site,
I avoid walking beneath any ladder
that suggests a deadly scalene triangle,
and I pray that along my path
no fatally black cat crosses my way.
I believe that, most of the time,
fortune grants me its undeserved favor,
and when I have bad streaks, they never last long.
I am not superstitious;
I wish well to everyone around me,
even if it is more out of fear that it might come back to me
as a mischievous thought
than because I am particularly good.
Photography by Zhao Rong Tan
