Vu Thanh Hoa
Vu Thanh Hoa, born in 1969 in Hanoi, Vietnam, is a renowned poet and short story writer. Her published books include ‘The pain of leaves’ (Poetry -2006), ‘There is another woman in me’ (Poetry- 2009), ‘The one who can see the soul’ (Collection of stories -2011), ‘A proposal of last night’ (Poetry – 2012), and ‘Six-eight poetry’ (Poetry -2015). Her new poetry and story book is coming soon. She received Award of Green Age literature work of Tien Phong newspaper in 1993; Award of New World Magazine’s Best Short Story in 1993; Award of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province’s Arts and Culture in the years 2000-2005, 2004-2009; First prize for the best short story on the 2007; Award of good poetry Nguyen Tieu 2021 of Ho Chi Minh City Writers’ Association and Poetry Prize “Humanism in the Southern Land” in 2021 of Ho Chi Minh City Writers’ Association.
A song of late night
If it cannot bring the joy
Offer each other a sadness
A waving magical coffee drop
Water by the lake wets with sparkling moon eyes
At the end of the horizon the birds flap their wings at late night
Lonely resounded
Sleep, soft grass
Sleep, drifting cloud
A singing lonely grylloidea
Round-trip wandering memories
There’s an unknowable tomorrow
There’s a just forgot yesterday
And my name is lost
A train hasn’t left but missed the trip
If it can bring the joy
Offer each other a sadness
Dear you?
***
A proposal of last night
In the dream last night
I proposed
A perfect person
A soul mate
A tolerant person
An honest person
A person with a disability
I closed the wave door
Snuggled into the peaceful blanket
Laid down on the default pillow
The right hand held the left hand
Solo performance of my journey
In the dream last night
I proposed to me
I made a ring
Put it on my finger
I said “I agreed”
I knew
This marriage would be never divorced.
***
There is another woman in me
When I’m cold and indifferent
There is another woman in me
The woman is hotter than fire
Wanting to burn you
When I say bitter words
There is another woman in me
The weak fragile woman
Wanting to cry on your shoulder
When I say goodbye
There is another woman in me
The woman wants to hug you tight
Burying you in the sea of kissing rain
***
A signature
We go to court today
How many witnesses?
They are indifferent and silent
Admitting us… to break up
We sit on two sides of a table
But so far away
When will we meet
Between the two banks of separation
Holding an orphaned pen
I bit my lips to write carefully
That bitter signature
To be apart forever
That day was gone forever
We made a promise together
I also sat
Signed carefully my name in pairs
Cloud flying away from the sky
Sunshine covering at the end of summer
We fell in love quickly
Raining for a whole lifetime of loneliness…
***
Is there any space left for me?
Is there any space left for me?
Heaven is full of gods
Hell is full of ghosts
The earth is countless of living people
The figures around the dead end
Crashing each other, splashing pieces of souls
The pieces of souls suck the lonely sea
Turning
Turning
Turning
In the middle of the lost sphere
Bewildered verses
Lying straight on the worn rails
Wilted smiling lips
Putting on lipstick on old wrinkles
Pale tears
Empty hugs
Four corners of the platform are filled with masks
A train hasn’t left but missed the trip
Is there any space left for me?
***
Pretending to die
Falling into the night
Slipping into the night
A shadow pretending to die
Silence earth
Secret moving seeds
The sky is as clear as a mirror
A whisper from somewhere world
How can know
Who is crying?
Who is smiling?
Who pretends to be blind to be deaf?
The blind love and hate, round real and fake
Moon night moonless night
Tomorrow is shining anyway
Turn off the light
Sleep
The dream is still awake
The darkness pretends to die
Everyone pretends to die
I pretend to die
My heart is still alive for loving you
_________________
(Translated from Vietnamese into English by Hanoi Female translators)
