First Looks: Notes on COVID-19
Michael Berry & Bishnupriya Ghosh
April 4, 2021
From 25-28 November 2022, an unprecedented mass of public protests erupted in many Chinese cities. Chinese citizens protested draconian lockdown measures, and some even demanded political and social change. Several photos from the protests have been circulated widely on social media, and they captured the zeitgeist of the movement. The following poems were inspired by these images and composed to remember these important historical moments and the courageous people who refuse to take things as they are.
一张白纸
洁白如冬雪，
轻薄如生命。
如果所有的文字都被审查，
世上还有纸的存在。
如果所有的言语都被禁止，
人间还有沉默的声音。
A blank sheet of paper is
as white as snow,
and as light as life.
If all the words are censored,
There’s still paper.
If all the speech is muffled,
there’s still silence.
身陷重围，
我们却不势单力薄。
影子始终在伴随着我们，
倾听着我们每一次心跳，
没有人能把它们从我们身边夺走。
冬叶也在伴随着我们，
在风中为我们击鼓呐喊，
它们会
把我们的消息和力量
通过风的使者
传达给成千上万的人。
We’re cornered,
and yet we’re not alone.
Our shadows are still with us.
listening to our heartbeats.
You can’t take them away from us.
Winter leaves are still with us,
drumming and cheering in the wind.
They’ll send our messages and our courage
to millions of people
who hear the sound of the wind.
如果路牌能被撤走，
记忆能被抹去，
历史能被遗忘，
这是多么可笑的想法啊。
没有任何行政命令
能够制止这个路牌
竖立在在世界各个角落。
没有任何高端科技
能够抹去人们心中
对路名的记忆。
It’d be wrong to think
once a road sign is removed,
memory can be erased,
and history can be forgotten,
Not even an official order
can stop the sign
from being erected
in all corners of the world.
Not even the highest-end technology
can erase the street name
from people’s minds.
© 2025 positions editorial collective. all rights reserved.