A funny verse

A poem in Vietnamese by Thanh Tâm Tuyền
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Art: Đinh Trường Chinh

A person hung themselves from a tree in a park

In the middle of the city

In the last flashback 

A pair of lovers kissed

Done

The young woman giggled mischievously like a pebble thrown

Rolling down the terracotta roof tiles

—

[September 2021]

BÀI THƠ VUI

Một người treo cổ trên cành cây

Trong công viên giữa thành phố

Nhìn một phút cuối cùng

Đôi tình nhân hôn nhau

Xong

Thiếu nữ cười tinh nghịch như hòn sỏi

Ném lăn theo triền mái ngói

–

Thơ, trích từ LIÊN, ĐÊM MẶT TRỜI TÌM THẤY (1964)

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Thanh Tâm Tuyền (1936-2006), real name Dư Văn Tâm, was a poet, as well as critic, editor, fiction writer, and playwright. He was born in Vinh, moved to Saigon in 1954, emigrated to the US in 1983, and died in Minnesota in 2006. (Source: Wikipedia)

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.