those are the reasons the haiku has forever doubled in length

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

Moonlight

THE HAIKU HAS DOUBLED IN LENGTH

`

hence she

is stuck

`

as the autumn

lay waiting 

for the coming of winter

`

THOSE ARE THE REASONS

`

you hate poetry, with

the rhymes are thrown around

without reason

`

and not rhythming

for no reason at all

ò ó o…

`

FOREVER

the frame of time in which you’ll find

the answer you have been looking for

makes the question forever changeable

_____

April 2019

BÀI HAIKU ĐÃ DÀI GẤP ĐÔI

nên nàng
bị mắc kẹt

như mùa thu
cứ nằm chờ
mùa đông tới

ĐÓ LÀ LÝ DO

bạn ghét thơ ca, khi mà
vần vèo cứ ném ra
không có lý do

và không vần
cũng không có lý do
ò ó o…

BẤT TẬN

thời điểm bạn tìm thấy
câu trả lời bạn đang tìm
làm câu hỏi luôn luôn thay đổi


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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