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
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.