Poem
Zheng Xiaoqiong
Zhou Yangchun
In the world of her dreams she stands at the ferrywithout boats or before she can finish the exam
time is up Most times are defective products bleakness and emptiness
In the mountains at midnight she is left alone no one to turn to for help
She describes to me these scenes when she screams in her dreams Lamp light
brightens her face after her screaming relaxed and open
without the sinking silence or daytime tension In her dreams
she finds vast desolate wilderness she has to cry out she’s frightened
she screams ... then wakes up to face in a crowded dorm of
twelve her bewildered co-workers
She apologizes to them saying in her body
hides a demon who curls up quietly during the day
but tortures her at night Her body is not used to
Twelve hours of labor at the electronics factory Fatigue
has become her only word of expression On the assembly line
her body is stiff and clumsy her joints ache
her fingers are heavy like machines In her back
legs waist she has lost control of the indescribable pain
pressing her body like a rock She must release from
her body an open field to allow herself to shout a beast
running out of her sleep This 17-year-old girl from Hunan
screams as if a boulder presses upon her In her sleep
her screams buried deep in her blood burst out
shaking the whole dorm Between her breathing and screams
I insomniac feel the oppression wrapped in the body
of a silent female migrant worker Her screams pierce
this hasty industrial age like a shout of protest
or the hidden moving matter in her veins
We still complain about how her screams broke our
beautiful dreams and her innocent body and lost gaze
Her screams in her dreams are this industrial epoch’s slow
hidden pains accumulating and exploding.
© Translation: 2019, Zhou Xiaojing
Zhou Yangchun
in de wereld van haar dromen staat zij op de kademaar is er geen schip of doet ze een examen maar
is de tijd om voor ze klaar is nog vaker is het een inferieur product leeg en verlaten
’s nachts in de bergen is zij eenzaam achtergebleven niemand ter steun
ze beschrijft me de scènes uit haar dromen wanneer ze het uitschreeuwt de lamp
schijnt op haar gezicht dat heeft geschreeuwd ontspannen en uitgestrekt
zonder de zwijgzaamheid en spanning van de dag in haar dromen
ziet ze desolaatheid en moet schreeuwen ze is bang
ze schreeuwt zich wakker confrontatie met twaalf mensen
een krappe slaapzaal met de ontsteltenis van haar collega’s
ze verontschuldigt zich ze zegt dat in haar lichaam
een demon schuilt overdag rustig opgekruld
’s nachts komt hij haar kwellen haar lichaam is nog niet gewend aan
de twaalfurige werkdagen in de elektriciteitsfabriek moe
is het enige woord dat ze nog kan zeggen aan de lopende band
haar lichaam stijf en onhandig pijnlijke gewrichten
mechanisch geworden vingers geen controle meer
over haar rug benen lendenen onbeschrijflijke pijn
drukt als een rots op haar lichaam ze moet uit haar lichaam
een desolaatheid elimineren die haar laat schreeuwen een beest
rent haar slaap uit dit zeventienjarige meisje uit Hunan
schreeuwt alsof een rots haar neerdrukt tijdens haar slaap
explodeert de schreeuw die in het diepste van haar aderen stroomt
verplettert de hele zaal tussen haar gehijg en geschreeuw in
voelt mijn slapeloze ik een gigantische druk in het lichaam
van de zwijgzame arbeidster haar geschreeuw snijdt dwars door
dit nauwe industriële tijdperk als een hulpkreet
als een verborgen substantie die in haar aderen borrelt
wij mopperen nog dat haar geschreeuw onze zoete dromen
heeft stukgeslagen haar pure lichaam en verbijsterde blik
het geschreeuw in haar dromen is het chronische lijden
van het lichaam in het industriële tijdperk het stapelt zich op en explodeert
© Vertaling: 2019, Zhou Xiaojing
周阳春
梦的世界里 她站在码头上却没有船只 或者考试尚未完成
时间已到 更多时候是次品 空旷而荒凉
半夜山中 剩下孤独的她 无所依靠
她跟我说尖叫时梦的场景 灯光
照亮她尖叫过后的脸 放松而舒展
没有白天的沉默与紧张 在梦中
她遇到旷野 需要叫喊 她害怕
她叫喊……醒来 面对十二人
局促的宿舍 工友们莫名的诧异
她向她们表示歉意 她说她身体里
潜藏一个魔鬼 白天安静地蜷伏
夜晚跑出来折磨她 她身体还不习惯
电子厂每天十二小时的劳动 累
成为她唯一表达的词 流水线上
她的身体生硬而笨拙 关节在疼痛
剩下手指像机械一样重复 背部
腿部 腰部 她已无法控制 莫名的痛
像石头压着她的身体 她需要从身体
抽出一片旷野 让她叫喊 有一头野兽
从她的睡眠中跑出 这个十七岁的湖南女孩
尖叫像石头压抑着她 睡眠中
流动在血管深处的尖叫会迸发
打破整个宿舍 在她喘息与尖叫间
失眠的我感受到一个沉默的女工
身体饱含的压抑 她的尖叫穿越
这个局促的工业时代 像一声呐喊
也像在血管里涌动的被潜伏的物质
我们还在抱怨她的尖叫打破了我们的
美梦 她单纯的身体与茫然的眼里
她梦里的尖叫成为工业时代的身体里
缓慢的痛楚 正在积聚 迸发
© 2012, Zheng Xiaoqiong
From: Female Migrant Workers: An Archive
Publisher: Huacheng chuban she, Beijing
From: Female Migrant Workers: An Archive
Publisher: Huacheng chuban she, Beijing
Poems
Poems of Zheng Xiaoqiong
Close
Zhou Yangchun
In the world of her dreams she stands at the ferrywithout boats or before she can finish the exam
time is up Most times are defective products bleakness and emptiness
In the mountains at midnight she is left alone no one to turn to for help
She describes to me these scenes when she screams in her dreams Lamp light
brightens her face after her screaming relaxed and open
without the sinking silence or daytime tension In her dreams
she finds vast desolate wilderness she has to cry out she’s frightened
she screams ... then wakes up to face in a crowded dorm of
twelve her bewildered co-workers
She apologizes to them saying in her body
hides a demon who curls up quietly during the day
but tortures her at night Her body is not used to
Twelve hours of labor at the electronics factory Fatigue
has become her only word of expression On the assembly line
her body is stiff and clumsy her joints ache
her fingers are heavy like machines In her back
legs waist she has lost control of the indescribable pain
pressing her body like a rock She must release from
her body an open field to allow herself to shout a beast
running out of her sleep This 17-year-old girl from Hunan
screams as if a boulder presses upon her In her sleep
her screams buried deep in her blood burst out
shaking the whole dorm Between her breathing and screams
I insomniac feel the oppression wrapped in the body
of a silent female migrant worker Her screams pierce
this hasty industrial age like a shout of protest
or the hidden moving matter in her veins
We still complain about how her screams broke our
beautiful dreams and her innocent body and lost gaze
Her screams in her dreams are this industrial epoch’s slow
hidden pains accumulating and exploding.
© 2019, Zhou Xiaojing
From: Female Migrant Workers: An Archive
From: Female Migrant Workers: An Archive
Zhou Yangchun
In the world of her dreams she stands at the ferrywithout boats or before she can finish the exam
time is up Most times are defective products bleakness and emptiness
In the mountains at midnight she is left alone no one to turn to for help
She describes to me these scenes when she screams in her dreams Lamp light
brightens her face after her screaming relaxed and open
without the sinking silence or daytime tension In her dreams
she finds vast desolate wilderness she has to cry out she’s frightened
she screams ... then wakes up to face in a crowded dorm of
twelve her bewildered co-workers
She apologizes to them saying in her body
hides a demon who curls up quietly during the day
but tortures her at night Her body is not used to
Twelve hours of labor at the electronics factory Fatigue
has become her only word of expression On the assembly line
her body is stiff and clumsy her joints ache
her fingers are heavy like machines In her back
legs waist she has lost control of the indescribable pain
pressing her body like a rock She must release from
her body an open field to allow herself to shout a beast
running out of her sleep This 17-year-old girl from Hunan
screams as if a boulder presses upon her In her sleep
her screams buried deep in her blood burst out
shaking the whole dorm Between her breathing and screams
I insomniac feel the oppression wrapped in the body
of a silent female migrant worker Her screams pierce
this hasty industrial age like a shout of protest
or the hidden moving matter in her veins
We still complain about how her screams broke our
beautiful dreams and her innocent body and lost gaze
Her screams in her dreams are this industrial epoch’s slow
hidden pains accumulating and exploding.
© 2019, Zhou Xiaojing
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