Refugees by Tom Sharp

We drag ourselves up the river as though there’s a city ahead named “Peace,” but each day we seem to have gotten no closer. The emperor tied strings to cormorants and then taught them to catch fish, but he didn’t know how to keep them from choking. Try as hard as we can, the war goes on. It’s hard to swim when tangled in algae. Everyone is a refugee from this war.

早行 by 杜甫 (Du Fu)

歌哭俱在晓，行迈有期程。 孤舟似昨日，闻见同一声。 飞鸟数求食，潜鱼亦独惊。 前王作网罟，设法害生成。 碧藻非不茂，高帆终日征。 干戈未揖让，崩迫开其情。