China Nobel winner's wife in rare video appearance Is it a tree? It's me, alone," reads the opening line of one poem, called "Untitled." Is it a winter tree? It's always like this, all year round. Friends say they fear Liu Xia's continued isolation is taking an increasing toll on her mental state. In December 2012 Associated Press reporters managed to sneak past guards posted outside Ms Liu's Beijing flat for a brief meeting. Ms Liu "trembled uncontrollably and cried as she described how absurd and emotionally draining her confinement under house arrest has been," they reported. "We live in such an absurd place," the poet told her visitors. Referring to her husband, she added: "I really never imagined that after he won [the Nobel prize], I would not be able to leave my home. This is too absurd. I think Kafka could not have written anything more absurd and unbelievable than this. "Liu Xiaobo has never accepted the verdict and has always maintained that he is not guilty," said Mo Shaoping, the lawyer.