Wound Finger Poem by Haiqing Hua

伤指
Wound finger

被菜刀割伤的手指
Chopper hurt me by my finger
是我的拇指
It is my thumb
在我的左手
On my left hand
不是食指
Not the forefinger
像铣床切除的
As cut off by a miller
我哥哥的食指
My old brother's forefinger
在他的右手
On his left hand

伤指未及神经
Wound touch not the nerves
不像我哥哥的断指
Unlike the amputated finger as my brother's
他的手指丢掉了
He lost his finger
不能再生
Rebirth not
只有神经留存
Only nerve remain
感受痛失同类
Feel the severe loss of same kind

我经常伤及我的手指
Often I hurt myself by my fingers
有时是食指
Sometime it is forefinger
有时是中指
Sometime it is middle finger

中指
Middle finger
人们经常用来骂人
People often use it to curse
我从来不用
I never use it
至少不公开用
At least not in the public
或者在孩子面前
Nor in front of kids
对生活的一种态度
An attitude toward life
有时你只能保持于心
Sometime you can only keep it to yourself
绝不伤及无辜
Never to hurt those innocent

食指人们用来指引方向
People use forefinger to direct
我的哥哥现在只能用左手
My brother only can use left hand now
他不喜欢指引方向
He doesn't like to direct
他总是倾听
He always listen
不置一词
Never a word spoken
就算是食指断了
Even his forefinger been cut off
他都没有哭
He has never cried

我今天伤到的
What I have been hurt
是我左手的拇指
The thumb in my left hand
人们经常用拇指赞扬
People often use thumb to praise
经常是右手的拇指
Often the thumb on the right hands
左手的拇指
The thumb on left hand
不常用在公共场合中
Often not used in the public
并不张扬
Remains quiet