Mei-Man Tseng’s Taiwanese-language poetry first appeared in the concert Discipline｜Dogma, where a scene featured the poem There’s a Mirror in Your Eyes—a piece written from the perspective of Chen Cheng-po’s daughter on the day of his execution. As she searches for any trace of her father, the poem’s restrained sorrow moved the entire creative team to tears. This marked the beginning of an enduring connection with the poet’s work.
Later, Tseng released her latest poetry collection, titled You Walk in the Wind, the book draws from a moment in 2016, during Tsai Ing-wen’s inauguration, when Cheng Nan-jung’s portrait slowly came into view in the distance.Centering on Cheng Nan-jung, the collection traces stories of White Terror victims and key moments in Taiwan’s journey toward democracy. The cover design reflects this historical weight through a minimal yet layered approach: a translucent outer sleeve evokes a veil of mist over the past, while the inner layer reveals names of White Terror victims—rendered in Romanized Taiwanese—scattered like windblown memories. At the edge of this wind, a faint silhouette of Cheng Nan-jung walks forward, his protest unwavering.
Tseng’s poetry serves as a powerful form of historical memory. While Taiwan’s democratic freedoms may now feel commonplace, this collection reminds readers that they were hard-won—paid for with lives, silence, and resistance. It stands in poignant contrast to the recklessness of today’s political rhetoric: slogans like “green communists” or “green Taliban” make clear just how fragile that memory can be.
You Walk in the Wind is not only a poetic work but also a record of how long and difficult Cheng Nan-jung’s march toward freedom truly was.
