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

When poetry’s beauty is the epitome of cloud nine

The Muse is suddenly cold, not so divine

Gosh the hell-raising envy

The desperate solicitation crazy

Dear god

Since the beginning of time, just as mad

(December 2021)

_____

Nàng thơ đẹp

Khi thơ đẹp tới chín tầng

Thì Nàng Thơ bỗng sượng sần cả ra

Tha hồ thằng quỷ con ma

Đến gùn ghè gạ gẫm mà hoá điên

Thưa rằng đại thánh tề thiên

Nghìn xưa âu cũng chỉ điên chừng này

–

Nguồn: Bùi Giáng, Mưa nguồn và Lá hoa cồn, NXB An Tiêm tái bản, Sài Gòn, 1973

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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.