night, tipsy

A poem in Vietnamese by Dư Đằng Duy
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Photography: Nguyễn Thị phương Trâm

Sydney Harbour Bridge, Vivid, Winter 2017

n i g h t,    t i p s y

you’ve swallowed thousands of drinks

savoured over and over again the cold dew

fractured branches

ants crawling around in a dreary corner

you’ve drank to the last drop, hues of the moon

saw to the end of the lunar cycle

you’ve forged and melted the sunset

in scattered falling pieces of broken stars

to your heart, swallowed a sword 

dangled ruins from the tumulus of dew

followed by the sadness of past lives

fathomless in the realms of endless heavens.

May 2022

—–

đ ê m  s a y

người nuốt ngàn ly rượu

ngậm tràn sương lạnh biệt trùng

nhánh cây nứt nẻ

con kiến bò quanh quẩn góc thê lương

người uống cạn màu trăng 

soi tận cùng đêm nguyệt tận

người nung chảy hoàng hôn

rơi rớt những vì sao vỡ vụn

nuốt thanh kiếm tận trái tim

treo tàn tích trên nấm mộ sương

những nỗi buồn theo sau tiền kiếp

dằng dặc sâu mấy cõi trùng thiên.

Dư Đằng Duy

Dư Đằng Duy, the poet from Vietnam is currently living in Sydney, Australia.

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.

By Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

There's magic in translating a body of work from one language to another.

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