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

Yeah, something like that

Nearly sixty

Writing poetry like a twenty year old

A mystic mountain surrounded by orangutans

I’ve been searching for people all day

Your hair was light in the breeze that time

The abandoned hut lay there dreaming of two hands pulling down its pants

—–

April 2022

—

Ừ, vậy đó

Đã gần sáu chục tuổi rồi

Làm thơ trắc nết như hồi hai mươi

Núi thần vây bủa đười ươi

Lang thang tôi kiếm con người hôm nay

Gặp em thuở tóc đang bay

Chòi hoang nằm mộng hai tay tuột quần

thơ Nguyễn Đức Sơn

---

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.