A poem in Vietnamese by Bùi Giáng
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Goodbye

Oh old bare heart

Grasping at the wrong sky

Upon dusk the source of life

Midlife came doodling passed by

–

(December 2021)

Từ giã

Người mộc mạc trái tim cũ kỹ

Vói hai tay bắt lộn vòm trời

Chiều qua mang một cõi đời

Đi về lẽo đẽo giữa đời đi qua.

–

(Văn, Sài Gòn)

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Bùi Giáng (1926-1998) was born in Thanh Châu, Duy Xuyên, the province of Quảng Nam, Vietnam. He passed away at Chợ Rẫy Hospital in Saigon, Vietnam. Self-taught at a late age in life. The prolific poet and translator were fluent in French, English, and Kanji. With many published translations like Hamlet by Shakespeare, The Little Prince by Saint Exupéry, Campus…

Source: thivien.net

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.