Tran Nhuan Minh
Born on August 20, 1944 in Hai Duong province, Tran Nhuan Minh currently lives in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. He graduated from the Faculty of Literature of Hanoi University and has published 63 books in Vietnam and abroad, including 36 volumes of poems. His prose works have been translated into 7 languages, published and released in 7 countries, and his poetry has been translated into 16 languages, published and released in 19 countries around the world. He has 11 poetry collections published in English, including “Flared up subconscious” published in Canada in 2022, and “The day I live” published in the United States in 2023. He got many literature awards including the State Award for Literature and Arts, granted by the President in 2007, and 3 Labor Medals, Third Class, Second Class and First Class.
Four Seasons
Now, I’m even weary of spring
Of the distressing torrential rains
Of clouds that don’t look like clouds, dull as a rat’s fur
Oh summer, hurry up and come
I only like summer when sunlight whitens my hair and beard
So hot that I even fear my former lover
Till a brutal rain like a waterfall suddenly descends
Oh, autumn! Quickly come…
Oh, how exasperating autumn is
The heart grows restless against the sorrow of desolation
Trees wither and then die in silence
Oh, winter! Do come to me
Dust dims the sky. The cold claws at the flesh.
The crows hiss. What’s left to revel in?
I yearn to open wide the innumerable doors
To chase winter away and eagerly welcome spring
Like so, the four seasons long to succeed one another
I hate them all. I then love them all
Like so
Carrying the worries and hardships
The Earth rotates in hope untold.
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(Translated into English by Ngo Binh Anh Khoa)
