A poem in English & Vietnamese by Lê Vĩnh Tài
Art: Đinh Trường Chinh
i reach for the stars
and bring them back
put them in your eyes
I keep them behind your eyelids
for fear
you change
your mind
…
anh với tới những vì sao
và mang chúng về
đặt vào mắt em
anh nhốt chúng lại sau mí mắt
vì sợ
em đổi
ý
With arms outstretched so high I
Seize the stars to bring them down
Then lay in your eyes.
Behind your lids I lock them up
Out of my fear
For your heart’s
Flight.
(Đoàn Duy’s translation)
Đoàn Duy, the translator is currently living in Vietnam.
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 
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