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Island 134

元月動程赴墨洲
船位阻延到中秋
一心指望頻登埠
年關將及在此樓

民國七年尾月下浣
香山隆都

In January, I started to leave for Mexico.
Passage reservations delayed me until mid-autumn.
I had wholeheartedly counted on a quick landing at the city,
But the year's almost ending, and I am still here in this building.

Last third of the last month of the seventh year of the Republic
Longdu, Heungshan

Listen to the poem in Heungshan (Shekki, Long Du) ⏯

Island 31

美里受囚何日休
裘葛已更又一秋
滿腹牢騷難罄竹
雪落花殘千古愁

Imprisonment at Youli, when will it end?
Fur and linen garments have been exchanged; it is already another autumn.
My belly brims with discontents, too numerous to inscribe on bamboo slips.
Snow falls, flowers wilt, expressing sorrow through the ages.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 13

居家無步進
他邦勢逼趁
離宗千里遠
別祖不相近

Living at home, there were no prospects for advancement.
The situation forced one to go to another country.
Separated from the clan, a thousand miles away,
Apart from the ancestors, we are no longer close to one another.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Island 14

重陽少四目
香港付輪舟
大家仍在此
繁足將半秋

往墨僑題

It was four days before the Chongyang Festival
When I transferred to a ship in Hong Kong.
Everybody is still here.
Our feet have been bound here for almost half an autumn.

Written by one going to Mexico

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Voices 24

同胞來美須記緊
審問口供勿倒運

Compatriots who come to America should keep memories clear;
When under interrogation or giving testimony, don’t ruin your luck.

Listen to the poem in Cantonese ⏯

Voices 17

我國現下民國專制將來袁世凱天下也

Our country is now a nationalist dictatorship;
In future the empire will belong to Yuan Shikai!

Listen to the inscription in Cantonese ⏯

Translations:
Egan, Charles. Voices of Angel Island: Inscriptions and Immigrant Poetry, 1910-1945. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2021.
Lai, H. Mark, Genny Lim, and Judy Yung, eds. Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940. Second edition. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2014.