{"id":220897,"date":"2020-02-21T16:41:40","date_gmt":"2020-02-22T00:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=220897"},"modified":"2020-02-25T11:39:20","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T19:39:20","slug":"translation-poems-from-a-wuhan-nurse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2020\/02\/translation-poems-from-a-wuhan-nurse\/","title":{"rendered":"Translation: Poems From a Wuhan Nurse"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following poetry collection was written by “Wei Shuiyin” (\u5f31\u6c34\u541f, given name Long Qiaoling \u9f99\u5de7\u73b2), who has been serving as a nurse in one of the dozen makeshift fangcang <\/em>hospitals set up in Wuhan<\/a> to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic<\/a>. Long is a <\/span>usually based at Shandan County People\u2019s Hospital in Gansu Province; since the outbreak of the coronavirus, she has been fighting on the frontline of prevention and control along with her colleagues. When she received news that Wuhan was in urgent need of medical workers, she volunteered to go to Wuhan with a medical team. The original post of the collection, translated below, was\u00a0deleted from WeChat<\/a> but has been archived by CDT Chinese<\/strong><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Please Don\u2019t Disturb<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please allow me to take off my protective clothes and mask
\nTo remove the flesh of my body from its armor
\nLet me trust my own health
\nLet me breathe undisturbed
\nAh\u2026.
\nThe slogans are yours
\nThe praise is yours
\nThe propaganda, the model workers, all yours
\nI am merely performing my duties
\nActing on a healer’s conscience
\nOften, there\u2019s no choice but to go to battle bare-chested
\nWithout time to choose between life and death
\nGenuinely without any lofty ideals
\nPlease, don\u2019t decorate me in garlands
\nDon\u2019t give me applause
\nSpare me recognition for work injury, martyrdom, or any other merits
\nI didn\u2019t come to Wuhan to admire the cherry blossoms
\nAnd I didn\u2019t come for the scenery, the reception of flattery
\nI just want to return home safe when the epidemic ends
\nEven if all that remains are my bones
\nI must bring myself home to my children and parents
\nI ask:
\nWho wants to carry a comrade\u2019s ashes
\nSetting foot on the road home
\nMedia, journalists
\nPlease don\u2019t disturb me again
\nWhat you call the actual facts, the data
\nI haven\u2019t the time or the inclination to follow
\nWeary all day, all night
\nRest, sleep
\nThis is more important than your praise
\nI invite you to go look, if you are able
\nAt those washed out homes
\nDoes smoke rise from the chimneys
\nThe cell phones drifting about the crematorium
\nHave their owners been found?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Little Sister, Tonight I\u2019m Ashamed of the Praise<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the early hour of two o\u2019clock
\nThunder and lightning, wind and rain
\nThe iron plates that blocked the doors have been overturned
\nA tiny figure was carried home by the storm
\nFloating like a scrap of paper
\n\u201cLittle sister, why did you come back early?\u201d
\n\u201cHypoglycemic dizziness, group leader let me go\u201d
\n\u201cForty-minute travel time?\u201d
\n\u201cA Wuhan taxi driver took me\u201d
\nFace pale, voice weak
\nThe thermometer at her forehead reads 33.1\u00b0C<\/p>\n

A spray of disinfectant, wash hands, repeat
\nWipe clean nostrils, ears
\nMonitoring the operation, my hand trembled
\nThrough my protective goggles
\nI can\u2019t tell if the drops on her face
\nAre tears or splashed disinfectant
\nRemove the mask
\nForehead, nose, cheek, ears
\nBlisters, boils–accomplices of hypoglycemia and the cold rallying towards me
\nI\u2019ve no strength to say anything
\nAny consolation will seem a false show of affection
\nChange clothing, shoes
\nStep back into disposable slippers
\nShower in water above 56\u00b0C, don\u2019t eat for a half hour<\/p>\n

Everyone knows
\nTightly wrap your body in protective clothing for a dozen hours
\nDon\u2019t eat don\u2019t drink don\u2019t evacuate
\nHave to eat and drink less before starting work
\nAh, protective clothing, how is there still a shortage?
\nCan you let her change to a new protective gown during the shift?
\nEven if work hours are extended?<\/p>\n

The little sister who returned with hypoglycemia
\nSo far I haven\u2019t been able to remember your face
\nA hundred sisters
\nA hundred masks covering unknown beauty
\nConcealing how much hypoglycemia from my sight
\nPerhaps, there are things I can\u2019t say<\/p>\n

Little sister, no praise tonight
\nAll songs of praise are guilty
\nAll deceived consciences
\nWill kneel to you
\nPut on a facemask, the instant you turn
\nI suddenly call to mind
\nI should add another mask
\nMe, facing this erupting storm
\nShould I play deaf and dumb<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Everyday<\/strong><\/p>\n

Haze, shady rain
\nFive days, damp and dismally quiet
\nCold and cruel, tears and injury
\nThese dull and murky words
\nHow much I hope you stay away
\nAt the guesthouse in self-isolation
\nWithout time, without days
\nNo sound and no air
\nWriting material, psychological intervention
\nPlace a hundred fearful hearts in each respective palm
\nThe trembling, the dread, the crying and despair
\nThrow it away with those muddied in poison
\nOne person\u2019s room
\nIs divided into a contaminated area and a clean area
\nWash your hands, wash your hands. Mask, mask
\nForced to correct all bad habits
\nRight now, everyone knows that a bat is responsible for the poison
\nAnd calling the crime poisoning is sketching it lightly
\nThe poison from seventeen years ago is still fresh in my memory
\nToday is a carbon copy of yesterday
\nBut the poison isn\u2019t yesterday\u2019s poison
\nPeople\u2019s pampering gave rise to its cunning
\nStrong contagion is the fruit of their pampering
\nVery late at night, what I most want to do
\nIs give those bats hidden in their caves
\nSteel armor to put on
\nEngraved with the two characters, \u201cWuhan\u201d
\nLeave all the blades with no handles
\nLeave all the teeth nothing to bite<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Night of the Lantern Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n

Outside an eighth floor window of the Wuhan Jinlaiya Hotel
\nLanterns already lighting the city
\nThe splendor of skyscraper silhouettes
\nClarifying the true colors of the night
\nSilent. Somber. Frigid.
\nI know that through the lanterns
\nFurther and deeper in the background
\nEven more windows are black
\nBlack as a cave, as a bat, as if swallowed up
\nLike a hidden poison with a flowery crown<\/p>\n

In the darkness I stare into the distance
\nLook into the distance of the Yangtze, the Han River
\nThe distance of the Yellow Crane Tower
\nThe distance of the makeshift hospital
\nThe distance of the Gansu Hexi Corridor
\nThe distance of the Huangpu River in Shanghai
\nThe distance of heaven using a long spoon to feed us all<\/p>\n

The darkness still spreads
\nBut I\u2019ve no doubt, all is well
\nAs the Lantern Festival moon rises
\nAll is well, all is bright<\/p>\n

[Chinese<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following poetry collection was written by “Wei Shuiyin” (\u5f31\u6c34\u541f, given name Long Qiaoling \u9f99\u5de7\u73b2), who has been serving as a nurse in one of the dozen makeshift fangcang hospitals set up in Wuhan to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic. Long is a usually based at Shandan County People\u2019s Hospital in Gansu Province; since the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":985,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[99,14744,5,4202],"tags":[17744,2825,16303,2459],"class_list":["post-220897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cdt-highlights","category-level-2-article","category-society","category-translation","tag-coronavirus","tag-poetry","tag-river-crabbed","tag-wuhan","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nTranslation: Poems From a Wuhan Nurse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2020\/02\/translation-poems-from-a-wuhan-nurse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Translation: Poems From a Wuhan Nurse\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The following poetry collection was written by “Wei Shuiyin” (\u5f31\u6c34\u541f, given name Long Qiaoling \u9f99\u5de7\u73b2), who has been serving as a nurse in one of the dozen makeshift fangcang hospitals set up in Wuhan to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic. 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