A poem in Vietnamese by Phạm Công Thiện
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Photography: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Girls
Girls far away are like dreams
Closer they’re these odd things
Eyes closed they’re like aliens
Eyes open: gosh, they’re startling
—
May 2022
—–
Con gái
Càng xa càng mông lung
Tới gần vẫn lạ lùng
Nhắm mắt sao lạ quá
Mở ra: ồ không cùng
Nguồn: Phạm Công Thiện, Trên tất cả đỉnh cao là lặng im, NXB Văn hoá Sài Gòn, 2009
Phạm Công Thiện, the poet, Buddhist philosopher, and scholar, under the name of Nguyên Tánh was born on June 1st, 1941 in Mỹ Tho, Vietnam. He left Vietnam in 1970, lived in Israel, Germany, then for a while in France. In 1983, he moved to the United States, settled in Los Angeles, and became a professor of Buddhism at the College of Buddhist Studies. He passed away on August 3rd, 2011 in Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
[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.
Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm 