She’s even lovelier than the day she met him, in her dream

A poem in Vietnamese by Thanh Dang
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Photography: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

After she had met him in her dreams
She wondered if sadness
Could be mended, through poems

She drinks, she’s still sober
– I tried, familiarised myself with death
I’m but tired
You’re nothing but a dream
Nothing but poetry

Then one day she sees
The words were as lovely
As her lover, though she continued to drink
She’s even lovelier
(than the day she met him, in her dream)

September 2022

Nàng hỏi
Có thật bài thơ vá lại nỗi buồn
Sau khi nàng gặp chàng
Trong mộng

Nàng đang uống rượu, chưa say
Em cố gắng tập quen dần cái chết
Khi ảo giác chỉ làm em mệt
Anh trong mơ
Từ đó những bài thơ

Một ngày nàng thấy ra con chữ
Cũng dễ thương như người tình
Tuy nàng còn uống rượu
Chỉ nhìn nàng, thêm xinh


Thanh Dang, the poet from Vietnam currently resides in Houston, Texas, U. S. A.

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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