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A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Thái Bình
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Art: A sketch of his wife by Nguyễn Thái Bình

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When you throw happiness into the crowd
you receive
the smiles
on their lips

When you throw sadness into the crowd
you receive
the smiles
from within their gut
I chose to
hold on to the sadness
if there ever
were for me.
—
November 2021
_____

Khi bạn quẳng niềm vui vào đám đông
bạn nhận lại
nụ cười
trên môi họ

Khi bạn quẳng nỗi muộn phiền vào đám đông
bạn nhận lại
nụ cười
trong bụng họ
tôi chọn
giữ lại muộn phiền
nếu có
cho riêng tôi.

Nguyễn Thái Bình, a poet from Phan Thiet, Vietnam.

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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