Brushing your teeth

A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Lãm Thắng
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Photography: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm


Minh & Tâm

Brushing your teeth

Đánh răng

The toothbrush is soft
The toothpaste is refreshing
The brushing is gentle
The toothpaste is sweet

We brush our back teeth
We brush our front
Each part we brush
Thoroughly
Don’t forget

Oh look!
One bug
Fell out
And there goes
One more!

Gargle
Gargle carefully
We wash our face
Who’s that
With the big white smile
On their face!

May 2022
__

Bàn chải mềm
Kem thơm quá!
Bàn chải êm
Kem ngọt quá!

Xong hàm dưới
Đánh hàm trên
Đánh thật kỹ
Bé đừng quên

Ô! Ô kìa!
Một “con sâu”
Rớt ra ngoài
Ô! Ô kìa!
Hai “con sâu”
Rớt ra ngoài

Súc miệng kỹ
Rửa mặt thôi!
Ai cười tươi
Răng trắng thế?


Nguyễn Lãm Thắng

Born August 14th, 1973, writes under many pseudonyms: Nguyễn Lãm Thắng, Lam Thuỵ, Trà Thị Kim Xuyến and as a children’s author: Nguyễn Trần Bảo Nghi, Du Lãm, Nhật Quang, Nguyễn Trần Khải Tú…

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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