A poem in Vietnamese by Bùi Kim-Anh
Translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

the cold wind delivered us

stayed 

echoed by the hot coffee in an alley at the old quarter 

the narrow stairs seemingly perched in the air

the seatings vagrant

eerie 

vehicles chewing up the moments

a familiarity

touched upon 

the memories of an old Hanoi

.

December 2020

_____

GIÓ LẠNH

.

gió lạnh đưa ta đến đây 

trú ngụ 

cafe nóng sâu ngõ nhà phố cổ 

cầu thang hẹp như treo 

góc ngồi lãng du

góc ngồi ma mị 

những chiếc xe rỉ nát thời gian 

quen cũ 

chạm vào nhớ 

Hà Nội dáng xưa

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Bùi Kim Anh, the poet born in 1948 in Thái Bình, graduated from Hanoi Teacher College, a teacher at a few high schools in Hanoi(Cổ Loa, Bạch Mai, Trần Phú). She is a member of the Vietnam Writers Association. Bùi Kim Anh together with her journalist husband Trần Mai Hạnh currently lives in Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Hanoi with their eldest daughter and grandchildren, including Thiện Nhân, from Mount Thành, Quảng Nam, abandoned by his mother and adopted by Trần Mai Anh, the poet’s daughter.

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.