2025-04-04T18:52:41+08:00
This is my fourth poem concerning communication software freedom and privacy (see Free Software, Free Communication, Why the Fuck the Fucking Weixin Exists and Build Friendship, Not Censorship), but what makes this poem special is that this poem also aims to express longing for one of my old friend, a girl that shared the same sweet memories with me. In 2023, she helped me a lot on my migration to libre software social and instant messaging services, such as Mastodon, Matrix and Jabber. However, due to my then software freedom status, most of our memories had been handed over to clutches of proprierary software such as Weixin and QQ. Due to a dispute, we lost touch in September 2023, but she left a promise that she will back after 2025 Gaokao, which will take place on June 7, 2025. If she can follow her promise, I hope to rebuild our connections on and bring back our memories to the libre software social and instant messaging solutions. No matter whether we can be partners or just friends, I wish that everything sweet and beautiful between us can be liberated by free software and kept away from those proprietary software monsters.
The title Jiyū no Sora de no Saikai came from Japanese phrase 自由の空での再会, which means "reunion beneath the skies of freedom". This poem also has a English title, Reunion in the Realm of Freedom.
In twilight hours of memory’s grace,
I wander paths where laughter once filled the space;
Your smile, a beacon through the midnight air,
I miss you deeply, my secret prayer.
Yet shadows fall on cherished recollections,
Bound by chains of closed digital connections;
Weixin whispers and QQ confine,
Censoring the echoes of a love once divine.
Their iron gaze—surveillance, unjust, unkind—
In every message, your voice I cannot find;
Malicious codes and restrictions breed despair,
A cage of pixels where our hearts lay bare.
But hope ignites in the vast realm of free,
Where Mastodon, Matrix, and XMPP decree
A future unbound by intrusive decree,
Where we, at last, can reclaim what used to be.
In dreams, we meet on open digital skies,
No monitored paths, no silent, watchful eyes;
Our reunion awaits in freedom’s pure light,
A promise of love reawakened, shining bright.