On May 20, 1988, farmers took to the streets to demand their rights in the most serious demonstrations since the ROC government had relocated to Taiwan in 1949. Lee wrote the poem “ Sounds ” in an attempt to capture the scene as riot police moved in on that rainy night, beating and dispersing the farmers and arresting their leaders:
鼓勵這塊堅忍土地上的人民能勇敢發出自己的聲音；1988 年，台灣爆發國府遷台後最嚴重的示威事件「520 農運」，其後李敏勇寫下〈聲音〉一詩，企圖捕捉雨夜中鎮暴部隊踏入現場、驅散農民並逮捕農運領袖的一幕：