Dear lord, sobering is December!

A poem in Vietnamese by Lê Vĩnh Tài
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Photography: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Dear lord, sobering is December!

gone is my ex-lover

that verse is a faded memory

in holy matrimonial mirth is love and poetry

followed by a new verse, 

December greets its new bride

their new life ran aimlessly the city

December now as they remember it

a smile so painful it no longer hurts

December 2018

_____

tháng mười hai ta thảng thốt: trời ơi…

ai người cũ đã thành hun hút

câu thơ cũng nhạt nhòa ký ức

thơ với người phù phiếm cưới nhau

theo câu thơ tháng chạp đón dâu

ta đời mới chạy hoang vu quanh phố

tháng mười hai bây giờ ta nhớ

một nụ cười đau đến chẳng còn đau…

(December we sigh: heavens…

a former love so far away from

the verse also fading memory

poetry with love in matrimonial mirth

followed the verse December greets its bride

their new life ran aimlessly the city

December now they’ll remember

a smile so painful it no longer hurts

December we cried: heavens (sigh)…

the former (love) became distant

poetry also a fading memory

poem with love in a matrimonial mirth

followed poetry December greets the bride

our new life ran abandoned around town

December now we’ll remember

a smile so painful it no longer hurts…

***

December we cried: ahh (sigh)

your person old became forever

the verse too in fading memory

A person with poetry frivolously unite

followed the verse December greets

our new life ran aimlessly the city

December now we may remember

a smile so painful it no longer bites…)


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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