XU Lizhi: I Swallowed a Moon Made of Steel

Translated by Yiyan Han, 2023-10-01 (c)

I swallowed a moon made of steel
bolt and nut as they call it
I swallowed the water of industrial waste
the purchase order of unemployment
and those died young, shorter than bench lathes
I swallowed that being constantly on the move
and being a displaced worker
Took it the pedestrian bridge
and took it my rusty living
But I can't take it nor swallow it any longer
All I’ve swallowed is now thrown up
on the soil of my homeland
to form a poem of disgrace!

Footnote:
On 30 September 2014, a day before the Communist China’s national day, Mr XU Lizhi (許立志) died at 24, jumping from the 17th floor of a Foxconn building in Shenzhen. He was born in the rural area of Guangdong, and became a seasonal worker after high school.

Mr Xu loved writing poems, and all his work has been selected into an anthology "New Day《新的一天》" after his death.