A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Đức Sơn
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Art: Đinh Trường Chinh

Noon waiting alone for someone to turn up

But heaven and earth were neither up nor down

Fell from high up the hill was one guava

The worms devoured one side while I did the other

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April 2022

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Cuối thu ở Phương Bối

Trưa đứng một mình đợi ai lên

Đất trời đâu có dưới và trên

Đồi cao ổi sót rụng một trái

Dòi ăn một bên ta một bên.

Thơ Nguyễn Đức Sơn 

source: nhatbaovanhoa.com

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Nguyễn Đức Sơn, the poet was born on November 18, 1937, in Du Khanh village, Thanh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province, originally from Thua Thien Hue. He began writing poetry very early with the pen name Sao Trên Rừng, and other pen names like Sơn Núi. On the morning of June 11, 2020, passed away at the age of 83.

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