Personal Record

Personal record is a phantom
I've never seen one
But I know it is always there
"Don't have a bad grade, don't misbehave"
They say, because everything will be put
In your personal record

Personal record is a shadow
I know it follows me eveywhere
"You can move from city to city, Danwei to Danwei"
They say, but you can't get rid of
Your personal record

Today I spend 300 Yuan to put
My personal record in a retirement home
Called "Information Service Center"
I imagine in the quiet late evening
There are thousands of records
Whining about their lost power
Like parents with grown-up kids
"they never visit, they never call"

I imagine my record holds on loyally
To my "early history"
To the photo of my young face
Wondering where I have been all these years
Yet knowing that I will never need her
Never coming back to her
My long abandoned identity