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POETRY/THƠ

Lê Vĩnh Tài | THE SECOND HAND ON THE WATCH (306)

Lê Vĩnh Tài, the Vietnamese poet and translator, born 1966 in Buon Ma Thuot, Daklak, Vietnam. The retired doctor is still a resident of the Western Highlands, a businessman in Buon Ma Thuot.

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm, the poet and translator, born 1971 in Phu Nhuan, Saigon, Vietnam. The pharmacist currently lives and works in Western Sydney, Australia.

The Disintegration Of The Persistence Of Memory Salvador Dalí

By Lê Vĩnh Tài, translated by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

 

THE SECOND HAND ON THE WATCH

 

It ‘s hard at work, constantly hard at work, but all people ever ask it is what time is it, at the most to the minute, never the second?

But the responsibility of the second hand on a watch, it’s hard at work, gathering the minutes, the hours.

All day, all night, months, years and entire centuries…

—

 

CÁI KIM GIÂY 

 

Nó cứ miệt mài, liên tục nhưng người ta chỉ hỏi mấy giờ, cùng lắm thì mấy phút, chứ có mấy ai hỏi mấy giây? 

Nhưng trách nhiệm của cả đời kim giây, là miệt mài, gom góp làm ra những phút, những giờ. 

Cả ngày, tháng, năm và cả thế kỷ…

…

November 2021

 

By Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

There's magic in translating a body of work from one language to another.

2 replies on “Lê Vĩnh Tài | THE SECOND HAND ON THE WATCH (306)”

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