These poems, attributed to 伯罗奔尼撒, or “Peloponnese,” were posted to WeChat by user 1号档案馆, or “Number 1 Archive.” CDT Chinese editors have archived them, and they are translated below with added links for context.
Don’t Speak
Don’t speak,
Don’t disturb their sweet dreams,
Which they dream in the name of the country.
Don’t speak,
Don’t move their cheese
Which they hoard in the name of the country.
Don’t speak,
Don’t puncture their lies,
Which they spin in the name of the country.
Don’t speak,
Don’t question their pledges
Which they swear in the name of the country.
Don’t speak,
Don’t resist their atrocities
Carried out in the name of the country.
Don’t speak,
This is their country, not yours. [Source]
Please Remember Them
Please remember them,
The children poisoned by vaccines or milk powder
The youths violated and robbed of sunlight
The reporters exposing darkness, who fade into it
The singers who, banned online, hung up their mics
The directors impoverished by refusal to censor
The lawyers who squat in prison for seeking justice
The soldiers killed nameless along the frontier
The lecturers fired after students denounced them
The doctors admonished for daring to speak
The farmers facing forced demolition with nowhere to appeal
The …[Source]
Read more translated poetry from CDT.
