English Translations of Lizhi Xu’s Poems, A Foxconn Employee Who Built Apple Products and Killed Himself

I Fall Asleep, Standing There Like That

The paper before my eyes, slightly turning yellow

With a steel pen I chisel in black characters, some strokes deep, some shallow

Full of labor vocabulary

Workshop, assembly line, machines, work badge, overtime, wages…

They’ve turned me into a robot

I can’t scream out, can’t protest

I can’t accuse, can’t complain

I can only silently bear the exhaustion

When I first stepped into this place

I only looked forward to getting that gray colored paycheck on the 10th of every month

To grant me some belated cosolation

And for this I had to grind away my rough edges, grind away my words

Refuse to skip work, refuse to call in sick, disregard personal matters

Refuse coming in late, refuse getting off early

On the assembly line I stood there like piece of iron, hands flying

So many days, so many dark nights

Did I fall asleep, standing there like that

— Lizhi Xu, 20 August 2011

《我就那样站着入睡》

眼前的纸张微微发黄

我用钢笔在上面凿下深浅不一的黑

里面盛满打工的词汇

车间，流水线，机台，上岗证，加班，薪水……

我被它们治得服服贴贴

我不会呐喊，不会反抗

不会控诉，不会埋怨

只默默地承受着疲惫

驻足时光之初

我只盼望每月十号那张灰色的薪资单

赐我以迟到的安慰

为此我必须磨去棱角，磨去语言

拒绝旷工，拒绝病假，拒绝事假

拒绝迟到，拒绝早退

流水线旁我站立如铁，双手如飞

多少白天，多少黑夜

我就那样，站着入睡

— 许立志 2011年8月20日