the accumulating sum | Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

A poem by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Translation into English by Lê Vĩnh Tài

Class Captain at Benedict College

The accumulating sum
of any glory in my vernacular
could never equate to you.

In such truths,
I am beyond words.

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

dù tích lũy
bao nhiêu tinh hoa
tiếng mẹ đẻ của tôi không bao giờ tương đương với bạn

cho dù như vậy
tôi vẫn vượt qua hàng rào ngôn ngữ
để yêu chữ như yêu
mẹ…

Lê Vĩnh Tài
—
March 2021
_

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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