I am steeped in colour | Lê Vĩnh Tài

Sentosa Island, Singapore. Photography: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

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

I wish the colour of me would fade

I’m lying on my back
with my eyes closed

I’m fading away…

I want to fade away

I’m lying on my back
with my eyes closed

and I’m
dreaming…

TÔI BỊ NHUỘM


tôi ước mình có thể phai màu

tôi nằm ngửa,
nhắm mắt lại

và phai

tôi ước mình có thể phai mờ

nằm ngửa,
nhắm mắt lại

và mơ…
____
SEPTEMBER 2019


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.

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