this world is a cave

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

Sydney Harbour, Australia

this world is a cave

she checks the dictionary

the word cave is hang động

`

hang động she’s not

she loves

him

`

she thinks

dating is fun

in a cave

`

in love

she likes to explore in this case

the places

laced

with breathlessness…

_______

thế giới này là một hang động

nàng tra từ điển

chữ hang động là cave

`

nàng không phải cave

nàng chỉ yêu

anh ấy

`

nàng nghĩ

thật thú vị khi hẹn hò

trong một hang động

`

vì khi yêu

nàng thích đi chơi

vào nơi

hơi

ngộp thở

_____

OCTOBER 2019


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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