poem inspired art by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
you have no face
I have no face
then again no one has just one face
this dick has two face
that bitch has three
three faces and the same thing coming out of their mouth
yep, around six faces in a circle
the face of the enemy
the face of stupidity
the face of a cunt that gigolo
big dick long face
the greed
on that fuck face
my face?
what about it!
M ặ t
Mày có một khuôn mặt
Tao cũng một khuôn mặt
Nhưng không hẳn ai cũng một khuôn mặt
Thằng này hai mặt
Con kia ba mặt
Vậy thì ba mặt một lời
Ừ, thì ‘vòng tròn sáu mặt’
Con mặt giặc
Bọn mặt ngu
Thằng đĩ mặt l.
Mặt dài dái ngựa
Mặt nó mặt thịt
Mặt mày mặt mo
Mặt tao mặt gì?
(Chúng ta đang trôi đi đâu?! – Nxb Đà Nẵng 2025)
Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.
Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.
Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.
In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.
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 