Eight times the emperor ordered his army
to drive out the barbarians who had settled on his lands in the north.
Each spring the barbarians would return with their tents and oxen.
The ninth time he had his army cut out the hearts of these trespassers.
His troops carried the severed hearts in sacks through the blue-lotus gates
into the heart of the city. Division, said the Chinese mathematician,
is the deconstruction of pure science. He explained further:
If you cut the head of an enemy off, the heart continues
to beat, for a time, without any thought, but when you cut
out the heart, everyone understands the uselessness.
The body dies from separation,
from not having.