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I have never read poetry translated from Chinese nor any from factory-workers but, thanks to Matt Webb I’ve been introduced to dagong shige. It appears to be translatable to either “battler’s poetry” or “labor poetry.”

I Swallowed an Iron Moon

    I swallowed an iron moon
    they called it a screw
    I swallowed industrial wastewater and unemployment forms
    bent over machines, our youth died young
    I swallowed labour, I swallowed poverty
    swallowed pedestrian bridges, swallowed this rusted-out life
    I can’t swallow any more
    everything I’ve swallowed roils up in my throat
    I spread across my country
    a poem of shame

- (Xu Lizhi)

Sundress

The packing area is flooded with light
the iron I’m holding
collects all the warmth of my hands
I want to press the straps flat
so they won’t dig into your shoulders when you wear it
and then press up from the waist
a lovely waist
where someone can lay a fine hand
and on the tree-shaded lane
caress a quiet kind of love...

- (Wu Xia)

Why am I only now hearing about these poems? Poetry like Wu Xia’s is ten-thousand times more effective at communicating the lives of those who produce most of the world’s goods (or at least the United States).