Mud slab

A poem for kids in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Lãm Thắng
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Photography: Beverly Mai @DRUphotography.


Mud slab



Mud slab in a kiln
Bearing the fire day and night
Willing and ready for the heat
Dreaming of a brighter future

A solid red slab
The building block of a home…
If you want to be someone
Getting over the hard stuff is something
You must.

May 2023
___


Đất và gạch



Đất vào lò tôi luyện
Lửa hun nóng đêm ngày
Đất sẵn sàng chịu đựng
Nằm mơ một ngày mai

Là gạch hồng chắc khoẻ
Xây nên cửa nên nhà…
Muốn trở thành có ích
Gian khổ phải vượt qua.


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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