An old lullaby | Lê Vĩnh Tài

HCM tomb, Hanoi, Vietnam. Photography: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

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

you return home
a prize in hand
your heart light

many felt lightheaded
as they watched you laughed

while I was in awe of the United States of America
like waiting butterflies I hovered
eyes wishful

my two tiny hands giddy
in front of all the candy
I wanted to taste everything

I wanted to take one and run
take and run
run and take
like in revolutions
a disappearing fog in my head
my childhood…

Bài hát ru ngày xưa

————

bạn trở về nhà
tay đầy món quà
và bạn trở nên dễ chịu

nhìn bạn cười
nhiều người muốn xỉu

khi tôi khám phá ra nước Mỹ
như loài bướm chờ đợi
bay trong ánh mắt xa xôi

hai bàn tay nhỏ bé của tôi
cũng như sôi
cũng muốn hốt

chạy và hốt
hốt và chạy
như những cuộc cách mạng
tưởng đã thành sương mù trong tâm trí
tuổi thơ…
_____
JUNE 2020


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.

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm's avatar

By Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

There's magic in translating a body of work from one language to another.

6 comments

      1. Thank you my kind friend. Your work for the good of others, is truly admirable. I feel certain they feel such blessings from you sharing their art and words with us. Love, Joni ❤️

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