Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Zheng Xiaoqiong

Iron nails

How much love, how much pain, how many nails
Pin me to the machine table, blueprint, order form
Early morning dew, midday’s blood

Must have an iron nail to pin down overtime, industrial disease
And the nameless grief follows, the time of the working class
From the factory buildings unfolds an era of fortune and misery

How many exhausted shadows flash beneath the dull lamps
How many emaciated, frail young working-class women smile numbly
Their love and memory, like moss shaded by green trees, silent and vulnerable

How many soundless nails pass through their calm flesh
Their youth flows with virtue and purity, separated from profit, back pay
Labor law, homesickness, and an unknown love

The sky-blue assembly line dangles booth seats
One painful nail at a time, a momentary stop 
Outside the window, autumn passes by, someone right beside it lives

有多少爱,有多少疼,多少枚铁钉
把我钉在机台,图纸,订单,
早晨的露水,中午的血液

需要一枚铁钉,把加班,职业病
和莫名的忧伤钉起,把打工者的日子
钉在楼群,摊开一个时代的幸与不幸

有多少暗淡灯火中闪动的疲倦的影子
多少羸弱、瘦小的打工妹在麻木中的笑意
她们的爱与回忆像绿荫下苔藓,安静而脆弱

多少沉默的钉子穿越她们从容的肉体
她们年龄里流淌的善良与纯净,隔着利润,欠薪
劳动法,乡愁与一场不明所以的爱情

淡蓝色的流水线上悬垂着的卡座
一枚枚疼痛的钉子,停留的片刻
窗外,秋天正过,有人正靠着它活着
Close

Iron nails

How much love, how much pain, how many nails
Pin me to the machine table, blueprint, order form
Early morning dew, midday’s blood

Must have an iron nail to pin down overtime, industrial disease
And the nameless grief follows, the time of the working class
From the factory buildings unfolds an era of fortune and misery

How many exhausted shadows flash beneath the dull lamps
How many emaciated, frail young working-class women smile numbly
Their love and memory, like moss shaded by green trees, silent and vulnerable

How many soundless nails pass through their calm flesh
Their youth flows with virtue and purity, separated from profit, back pay
Labor law, homesickness, and an unknown love

The sky-blue assembly line dangles booth seats
One painful nail at a time, a momentary stop 
Outside the window, autumn passes by, someone right beside it lives

Iron nails

How much love, how much pain, how many nails
Pin me to the machine table, blueprint, order form
Early morning dew, midday’s blood

Must have an iron nail to pin down overtime, industrial disease
And the nameless grief follows, the time of the working class
From the factory buildings unfolds an era of fortune and misery

How many exhausted shadows flash beneath the dull lamps
How many emaciated, frail young working-class women smile numbly
Their love and memory, like moss shaded by green trees, silent and vulnerable

How many soundless nails pass through their calm flesh
Their youth flows with virtue and purity, separated from profit, back pay
Labor law, homesickness, and an unknown love

The sky-blue assembly line dangles booth seats
One painful nail at a time, a momentary stop 
Outside the window, autumn passes by, someone right beside it lives
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Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
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Lira fonds
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Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
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Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
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VDM
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