A poem in Vietnamese by Bùi Kim-Anh
Translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
anxiousness
brimming in a dream
noon aberration
a small lonely pot of chrysanthemum
mum, are you…
next door
in back alley
glimmer of light on the back wall
sound of a child somewhere
a mother singing a lullaby
mum…
tapping away on a blank page
the slight chill
of my mother’s spirit
MẸ ƠI…
thảng thốt
bật dậy cơn mơ
giấc trưa
lọ hoa cúc nhỏ không hương
lặng lẽ
mẹ ơi…
bên nhà hàng xóm
ngõ sau
bức tường chắn hắt vệt nắng yếu
ngặt nghẽ tiếng trẻ
ầu ơ tiếng mẹ
mẹ ơi…
gõ vào trang trắng lạnh
phảng hơi lạnh
mẹ của ta ở cõi cô hồn
Bùi Kim Anh, the poet born in 1948 in Thái Bình, graduated from Hanoi Teacher College, a teacher at a few high schools in Hanoi(Cổ Loa, Bạch Mai, Trần Phú). She is a member of the Vietnam Writers Association. Bùi Kim Anh together with her journalist husband Trần Mai Hạnh currently lives in Nguyễn Đình Chiểu, Hanoi with their eldest daughter and grandchildren, including Thiện Nhân, from Mount Thành, Quảng Nam, abandoned by his mother and adopted by Trần Mai Anh, the poet’s daughter.
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 