an unexplained intoxication | Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

My struggles
inability displayed
each shortcoming noted
but never my sure
branding of those small steps forward.

I’ve set many goals in my life,
all of them met,
but for the unexpected new beginnings.

Doors opening to places
full of anxiety,
anguish and delight;

the concoction left me exhausted,
full of desire
— an unexplained intoxication.

Sigh..
the tiredness is in my bones,
seeping through layers of the dermis,
set in lines on my throat,
cheeks,
eyes…

I roll it up
knead it
spread it out
in a smile.
—
2018

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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