Flying high

A poem in Vietnamese by Lê Vĩnh Tài
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Art: Đinh Trường Chinh

In her youth, she liked to fly high, as high as the angels. But she forgets the sunlight is terrifying that high, that close to the Sun.

She thought like her, we all have these blistering sunburn scars on our faces.

March 2021

Ngày xưa nàng thích bay cao như những thiên thần. Nàng quên khi bay cao thì ánh nắng thật khủng khiếp.

Nàng cứ tưởng ai cũng mang những vết sẹo bỏng trên gương mặt như nàng.


Lê Vĩnh Tài, the poet and translator born in 1966 in Buon Ma Thuot, Daklak, Vietnam. The retired doctor is still a resident of the Western Highlands and a businessman in Buon Ma Thuot.

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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