There is nothing left to say | Nguyễn Văn Gia

A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Văn Gia
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Thirty thousand people unjustly lost their lives 
A transgression the size of a mountain
The evil deed of educated people
Accepting money-commissioned-blood

The misplaced ashes 
How will they rest?
How will they escape their earthly bounds
O murdering thieves

Demons in human disguise
Mouth spurting morality
While their hands pick our pockets
The nauseating faces
The consequence of what is happening
in front of you
It is no joke…

June 2022
_

HẾT LỜI

Ba vạn người chết oan
Tội to như trái núi
Ác thay lũ cẩu quan
Ngậm tiền-hoa-hồng-máu 

Tro cốt còn thất lạc
Làm sao mà yên nghỉ
Làm sao mà siêu thoát 
Hỡi cái lũ gian ác

Quỷ dữ đội lốt người
Miệng lên giọng đạo đức
Tay giở trò móc túi 
Nhìn mặt đã muốn ói

Nhân quả chuyện trước mắt
Không phải chuyện đùa đâu…


Nguyễn Văn Gia, the poet and facebooker is a retired English professor who currently lives in Danang, Vietnam.

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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