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Seafoam | Nguyễn Đức Sơn

A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Đức Sơn
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Mùa thu by Đinh Trường Chinh

I see life barely as a twenty-year-old
Looking back and forth 
At the heads laden with sorrow ahead
Followed by those with undissolved sadness
/
I see life barely as a twenty-year-old
It intrigued me but I couldn’t laugh
How you would grow up and get married
To then die alone in cold soil
/
I see life barely as a twenty-year-old
Saw the suffocating emptiness across the sky
My father and mother, my family, all around me
But I was alone
/
The hesitant steps on a quiet path
Across the horizon, the explosion of white clouds
My head was low in discerning teardrops
I knew then everything would end in sadness
/
The sea of boredom is vast and wide
Washing out the saddest of moments
Gosh the sleepless nights discerning the distance
The emptiness returning from four corners of the world
/
I see life barely as a twenty-year-old
Sometimes dreaming high
Sometimes times sad for far-fetched reasons, not mine
Knowing all shall perish, all shall end
/
To love still when my parents were gone
To discern sadness still in yearning 
But my love will never be constant
My apologies to those I love
/
Yes, my love will never be enough
Since everything is nothing but sea bubbles
Yes, everything is nothing but bubbles in the sea
—–
April 2022
—

Bọt nước

Tôi dòm đời khi tuổi sắp hai mươi
Nhìn trước nhìn sau thấy rõ ràng
Những người đi trước sầu đeo nặng
Những người đi sau sầu không tan
/
Tôi dòm đời khi tuổi sắp hai mươi
Thấy hay hay nhưng làm sao cười
Như chuyện lớn lên rồi có vợ
Cuối đời về đất lạnh nằm xuôi
/
Tôi dòm đời khi tuổi sắp hai mươi
Thấy vắng tan hoang ngụt đất trời
Cha mẹ anh em còn đông đủ
Mình tôi sao mối sầu không nguôi
/
Ngập ngừng chân bước con đường vắng
Mây trắng bay lên oà đất trời
Tôi cúi đầu nghe mình nhỏ lệ
Biết chuyện gì rồi cũng buồn thôi
/
Rộng biển trời ơi cái chán chường
Nhạt phèo cả những mối sầu vương
Ôi từng đêm thức nghe xa vắng
Về ngập trong hồn tự bốn phương
/
Tôi dòm đời khi tuổi sắp hai mươi
Đôi lúc còn mơ chuyện trên trời
Đôi lúc còn buồn chuyện xa xôi
Khi biết trước sẽ lui về huỷ diệt
/
Vẫn biết thương nếu cha mẹ chết
Vẫn thấy sầu khi nhớ người yêu
Nhưng tình tôi thì vẫn không đều
Biết sao được hỡi người tôi mến
/
Vâng tình tôi thì cũng không nhiều
Coi tất cả chỉ là bọt nước
Vâng tất cả chỉ là bọt nước.

Thơ Nguyễn Đức Sơn 

Nguyễn Đức Sơn, the poet was born on November 18, 1937, in Du Khanh village, Thanh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province, originally from Thua Thien Hue. He began writing poetry very early with the pen name Sao Trên Rừng, and other pen names like Sơn Núi. On the morning of June 11, 2020, passed away at the age of 83.

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.

There, I saw the forest clouds | Nguyễn Đức Sơn

A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Đức Sơn
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Saigon summer 2022 Việt Nam. Photography by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

One day of suffering ripened within me
So I went to the tree and sat down quietly
The durian tree dropped its fruit on the resting water
The surface of the lake shattered in drifting stars

Come on darling, in the thousand years that had passed by
In the moon’s shadow always is my soul
The sky was born that very afternoon so I may
See the forest clouds flying far far away
—
July 2022
_

Tôi thấy mây rừng

Một ngày đau khổ chín trong tôi
Tôi đến bên cây lẳng lặng ngồi
Cây thả trái sầu trên nước lắng
Mặt hồ tan vỡ ánh sao trôi

Thôi nhé ngàn năm em đi qua
Hồn tôi cô tịch bóng trăng tà
Trời sinh ra để chiều hôm đó
Tôi thấy mây rừng bay rất xa

Thơ Nguyễn Đức Sơn 

Nguyễn Đức Sơn, the poet was born on November 18, 1937, in Du Khanh village, Thanh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province, originally from Thua Thien Hue. He began writing poetry very early with the pen name Sao Trên Rừng, and other pen names like Sơn Núi. On the morning of June 11, 2020, passed away at the age of 83.

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.

To me | Nguyễn Đức Sơn

A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Đức Sơn
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Thiếu nữ mùa thu by Đinh Trường Chinh

Girls, you see
They’ll sit and pee
On The World to then
Never be seen again
—–
April 2022
—

Tôi thấy

Con gái Ngồi đái Trên Trái Đất Rồi đi đâu mất

thơ Nguyễn Đức Sơn

Nguyễn Đức Sơn, the poet was born on November 18, 1937, in Du Khanh village, Thanh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province, originally from Thua Thien Hue. He began writing poetry very early with the pen name Sao Trên Rừng, and other pen names like Sơn Núi. On the morning of June 11, 2020, passed away at the age of 83.

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.

Yeah, something like that | Nguyễn Đức Sơn

A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Đức Sơn
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Starbuck by Đinh Trường Chinh

Yeah, something like that
Nearly sixty
Writing poetry like a twenty year old
A mystic mountain surrounded by orangutans
I’ve been searching for people all day
Your hair was light in the breeze that time
The abandoned hut lay there dreaming of two hands pulling down its pants
—–
April 2022
—

Ừ, vậy đó

Đã gần sáu chục tuổi rồi
Làm thơ trắc nết như hồi hai mươi
Núi thần vây bủa đười ươi
Lang thang tôi kiếm con người hôm nay
Gặp em thuở tóc đang bay
Chòi hoang nằm mộng hai tay tuột quần

thơ Nguyễn Đức Sơn

Nguyễn Đức Sơn, the poet was born on November 18, 1937, in Du Khanh village, Thanh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province, originally from Thua Thien Hue. He began writing poetry very early with the pen name Sao Trên Rừng, and other pen names like Sơn Núi. On the morning of June 11, 2020, passed away at the age of 83.

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.

Watching my baby learn how to roll | Nguyễn Đức Sơn

A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Đức Sơn
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Zoe & Lan. Photography: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Hold on and roll child
Curl up like a chubby little rock and roll
So that life may be more of a stroll
Get used to losing your balance so on so and so on
—
May 2022
—–

Nhìn con tập lật

Nắm tay lật úp đi con
Co thân tròn trịa như hòn đá lăn
Muốn cho đời sống không cằn
Tập cho quen mất thăng bằng từ đây

Nguyễn Đức Sơn, the poet was born on November 18, 1937, in Du Khanh village, Thanh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province, originally from Thua Thien Hue. He began writing poetry very early with the pen name Sao Trên Rừng, and other pen names like Sơn Núi. On the morning of June 11, 2020, passed away at the age of 83.

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.

We’ll see | Nguyễn Đức Sơn

A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Đức Sơn
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Art: Đinh Trường Chinh

Shy by Đinh Trường Chinh

We’ll see

Touch me

And they’ll be a baby

—–

April 2022

—

Cho mà xem

Đừng đụng em

Em đẻ

Nguyễn Đức Sơn, the poet was born on November 18, 1937, in Du Khanh village, Thanh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province, originally from Thua Thien Hue. He began writing poetry very early with the pen name Sao Trên Rừng, and other pen names like Sơn Núi. On the morning of June 11, 2020, passed away at the age of 83.

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.

Upon the precipice of nothingness | Nguyễn Đức Sơn

Art by Đinh Trường Chinh

A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Đức Sơn
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Art: Đinh Trường Chinh

Upon the precipice of nothingness
A starry night in the trees
In a race to fall upon humanity
A celebration of trees and spirit
On the verge of tears were the boundless dreams
A golden age a river of dreams a sky filled with poetry
I am a man upon my death at the precipice of nothingness.

—–

April 2022

—

Trên bờ hư không

Một đêm sao ở trên rừng
Đua nhau rụng xuống chào mừng nhân gian
Hồn tôi cây cối liên hoan
Rưng rưng tôi thấy trăm ngàn ước mơ
Tuổi vàng suối mộng trời thơ
Lớn lên tôi chết trên bờ hư không.

Thơ Nguyễn Đức Sơn 

Nguyễn Đức Sơn, the poet was born on November 18, 1937, in Du Khanh village, Thanh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province, originally from Thua Thien Hue. He began writing poetry very early with the pen name Sao Trên Rừng, and other pen names like Sơn Núi. On the morning of June 11, 2020, passed away at the age of 83.

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.

Phương Bối at the end of autumn | Nguyễn Đức Sơn

Art by Đinh Trường Chinh

A poem in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Đức Sơn
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Art: Đinh Trường Chinh

Noon waiting alone for someone to turn up
But heaven and earth were neither up nor down
Fell from high up the hill was one guava
The worms devoured one side while I did the other

Cuối thu ở Phương Bối

Trưa đứng một mình đợi ai lên
Đất trời đâu có dưới và trên
Đồi cao ổi sót rụng một trái
Dòi ăn một bên ta một bên.

Thơ Nguyễn Đức Sơn 

source: nhatbaovanhoa.com

Nguyễn Đức Sơn, the poet was born on November 18, 1937, in Du Khanh village, Thanh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province, originally from Thua Thien Hue. He began writing poetry very early with the pen name Sao Trên Rừng, and other pen names like Sơn Núi. On the morning of June 11, 2020, passed away at the age of 83.

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.