Sister
Sister I've been living in this little Jiangnan town for so long
I've forgotten time's been flowing over me I've forgotten
Sister I’ve seen peach trees ablaze with blossoms
but for thirty years I’ve never really seen springtime never
Sister, at dusk, on the factory floor, working overtime
I suddenly thought of you outside the window
I saw the soft blurry mist of Jiangnan
and before I knew it I was crying like I did
on the night of the fifteenth sitting alone by the Qiantang River
Sister I need you to know I exist
But that black butterfly won't let me go let me go
Sister I don't talk about dreams anymore
Not even the March grass or the starry night no more
Sister I’ve been away from home too long
Bustling bustling before the machines year after year
Sister just now I passed by the springtime of this world just now
But youth hurried on too fast too fast
Translated by Austin Woerner and Zheng Wanqi
About the translators
Austin Woerner is a Creative Fellow in Chinese-English literary translation at the University of Leeds.
Zheng Wanqi is an MA student currently enrolled in the English Literature course at the School of English, University of Leeds.