Self-immolation song – Poetry from Vietnam
Poet Nguyen Thanh Tam, a poetess from the land of Blue Dragon shares her three poems
You burn me by your silence
I try to unlock my shadow out of the mist
Do not let the ash covering the road which we have not gone to!
Self-immolation song
You burn me by your silence
I try to unlock my shadow out of the mist
Do not let the ash covering the road which we have not gone to
Do not let our hairs turn white by missing afternoons
Bearing a self-immolation song inside
Burning wildly all the idle things
One day
One day I suddenly love you
Break all the ordinary regulation I wait for your text
Do you know the sea is saltier this afternoon?
Because my loneliness falls down there at the end of the day
Do you know the sea suddenly gets drunk?
For your look and smile, even for your rare words
Staring at two-way texts, I feel the hurt in my chest
I wonder in every word which I let go
There is one day the waves crashes around the sea
I want to hug you – the appointment a thousand years ago
Want to rub my head at your chest, to burst into tears
I want you to kiss on my eyes tired of waiting
One day, I am the wrong recipient
Embodying myself in the poem you wrote
But may you never know that
Only I am aware of it and silently feel sorry for myself
Dream
Our hearts realize each other at a rainy day in lunar July
Not only you, but I am shocked also
The moon does not sleep, the waxing crescent moon stays
in the single boat driving around the world
I am not a “fairy” being next to you
Amidst the unconsciousness, immorality, atheism
I am the music
Accidently touching, but you only can play
The love song sleeping for thousands of years suddenly raises high between mountains
I am not a “fairy” so I cannot fly to the heaven
Before the sunrise, of course the night closes
And only I know that magical dream
A magical night… I look for you in panic
_________________
(Translated by Kieu Bich Hau)
