A poem in Vietnamese by Tô Thùy Yên
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

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The empty cafe

Heading there, perhaps for a date

A date with whom I can’t remember

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Heading there, a desiccated heart the hollowness of a ball

Grasping exhaustingly at earthly cravings

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This afternoon was harsh with sunlight…

This afternoon was heavy with rain…

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The empty cafe, not a soul a being in sight

The lamp is like a thousand years in waiting

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My fault, it can only be my fault

Unable to recall the right time

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I’m sorry, to you my apology

You came, and no one was there to meet you

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Life is so mixed up

There’s no point rushing

Try anyway, hold it together

So it’s worth the trip

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This afternoon was harsh with sunlight…

This afternoon was heavy with rain…

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The empty cafe, the lamp is like 

A thousand years in waiting

Quán vắng vẻ

Đi đến đó, dường như ta có hẹn

Hẹn cùng ai, không nhớ rõ là ai

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Đi đến đó, lòng khô như trái rỗng

Khua rụng rời nỗi đói khát trần ai

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Chiều nay trời nắng gắt…

Chiều nay trời mưa dầm…

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Quán vắng vẻ, không ai người đến gặp

Ngọn đèn như nỗi đợi thiên thu

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Lỗi tự mình, lỗi tự mình thôi

Đã chẳng nhớ ra ngày tháng hẹn

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Tội cho người, tội bấy cho người

Cũng đến đây chờ chẳng gặp ai

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Việc đời lầm lẫn vậy

Hối mấy chẳng hơn gì

Thôi thì hãy cố nán

Cho đáng một lần đi

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Chiều nay trời nắng gắt…

Chiều nay trời mưa dầm…

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Quán vắng vẻ, ngọn đèn như nỗi đợi

Thiên thu

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Nguồn: Tô Thùy Yên, Thơ tuyển, Minnesota, 1995

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Tô Thuỳ Yên (1938-2019) real name was Đinh Thành Tiên, born in Go Vap, Gia Dinh, Vietnam, an alumnus at Petrus Ký and Đại học Văn khoa Sài Gòn. He was a teacher and journalist in Saigon, a Major in the Vietnam Army prior to 1975. After 1975 served 13 years in re-education camps, in 1993, he moved with his family to the United States as a former political prisoner.

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