A poem in Vietnamese by Thanh Tâm Tuyền
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Art: Đinh Trường Chinh
A person hanging from a tree at the park
In the middle of the city
In a flashback saw
Two people kissing
Done
A girl giggling
Sounding like falling pebbles rolling
Down a tiled roof
BÀI THƠ VUI
Một người treo cổ trên cành cây
Trong công viên giữa thành phố
Nhìn một phút cuối cùng
Đôi tình nhân hôn nhau
Xong
Thiếu nữ cười tinh nghịch như hòn sỏi
Ném lăn theo triền mái ngói
–
Thơ, trích từ LIÊN, ĐÊM MẶT TRỜI TÌM THẤY (1964)
Thanh Tâm Tuyền (1936-2006), real name Dư Văn Tâm, was a poet, as well as critic, editor, fiction writer, and playwright. He was born in Vinh, moved to Saigon in 1954, emigrated to the US in 1983, and died in Minnesota in 2006. (Source: Wikipedia)
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.