Mama, now that I’m old enough | Lê Vĩnh Tài

SONY ILCE-7SM2 ƒ/321/15200 mmISO500 Super Worm Moon, coming spring. Photography: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm.

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

Mama, now that I’m old enough 

I’m able to discern the earnestness of the moon throughout my life 
thank you, papa and mama, for erecting our home
pointing out where the moon rises and sets at the end of the sky

now you’re old mama but the moon is forever young and forever shy

mẹ ơi con ngần ấy tuổi đầu

mới chợt nhớ trăng qua đời con tha thiết 
cảm ơn cha mẹ dựng nhà cho con biết 
hướng trăng lên trăng lặn cuối trời

mẹ già rồi trăng vẫn trẻ mẹ ơi…

_____

AUGUST 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.

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By Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

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

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