placing your lips upon the mirror
a mist appears
and you
disappear
ran and grab/grab and ran
By Nguyễn Văn Thiện, translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
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THE WOMEN – ĐÀN BÀ (8)
I’m on my knees in front of your pregnant belly
Because he knows you like to fly.
The Sun atop silent
Burning fretful
The coming days
How could I possibly fathom the waiting? My mother waiting for my father to come home. This was a letter father send to mother from re-educational camp, my very first translation, lyrics by Trịnh Công Sơn
The mountains and valleys were scraped bare like a curse in folklore, my friend is still by my side, but her face is gone, only a pair of eyes remain like glowing lumps of coal in winter…
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SLEEPWALKING – MỘNG DU
by Thái Hạo, translated by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm In the summer rain I’m under a hut devoid of walls Trying to sleep In a continuance of a dream last night, a corn seed germinating Corn kernels like front teeth Breaking through the soil piercing sunlight dancing in the […]
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Black or White – Trắng hay đen (2)
by Đình Nguyên, translated by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Tea
Nor spirit
by Đình Nguyên, translated by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
you replace the horizon
with a scatter of hope
a flare
sunlight
By Nguyễn Văn Thiện, translated by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm You’re cracking, I’m also cracking open, slowly every day, every hour, did you know that? A million-dollar highway just completed, about a metre thick, full of gravel and cement, but cracking already after one night. Let alone you and me, the making of flesh and […]
A star fell into the bamboo bushes
mixing with fireflies in the dense darkness
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AN OLD SEASON – MÙA CŨ (2)
by Sấu Mã, translated by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
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THE SMELL OF POETRY – MÙI THƠ (10)
by Sấu Mã, translated by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
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LEAVING – RA ĐI (5)
by Sấu Mã, translated by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
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THE ORIGIN – MẪU GỐC (9)
by Sấu Mã, translated by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
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THE NET – GIÃY LƯỚI (8)
by Sấu Mã, translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
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LISTENING – LẮNG NGHE (6)
by Sấu Mã, translated by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
The clouds shredded
We’re a crumbling net beneath the sky
Engulfing all that’s austere
