a sinister dark cloak | Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

There’s a moment
in my day
I believe
it’s impossible

You’re laughing somewhere
in a dimly lit cavern
she is laughing at something
you said
– no, no, I can’t
yes, yes please

Her words contrary to the curves on her body
her shadow in the flickering candle light
wrapped around you
a sinister dark cloak.

Me
I’m sitting
on
a full stop.


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.

Dignity is a measure of your pride?  | Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Dignity is a measure of your pride?

My busy predisposition could not confine me
to the walls of the room
no matter the glimpses of the glorious South China Sea
or a lively metropolis.

A diet of watery rice and a runaway gut
hit with the curse of bleeding
I planned an escape on the tarmac

A few steps onto the uneven footpath,
flat on my stomach
my dignity exploded across half a mile radius.

The kindness of people helped me up
while my pride lay forlorn on the concrete,
alone I stood up and thanked them…

Eo tròn mông tròn…
tôi vẫn bước tới vôn vớt dành lại một tí tôi.

I hope I’ve managed a smile on your face


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.

“nothing gold can stay” | Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

A poem inspired by Robert Frost, tặng anh Dinh Nghiem Ho



“Nothing gold can stay”

At the golden hour, you are mine and nature alone

Your glory in the fleeting light
Your beauty your might
In the coming impending darkness, you shine
You are finally mine.


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.

On the clouds rest my weary soul | Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

On the clouds rest my weary soul,
Self drifting in the sea of blue.
Further from the heart’s enclave,
More pulling on my maternal chord.

The pulse races to a pace slow,
Eyes glimmering strings of dew.
To where? I’m travelling not alone,
Not past a sunrise, yet I yearn for home..

2014


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.

Like the riptides | Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Like the riptides
pulling me out to sea
I may die

But how could I shy away from you
You are the salt of my soul


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.

in truths | Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

the passing poem in the night
the boundary of three seas
and I’m no longer me

I have loved you in every verse
that is
not mine

to be kind
the words of lies
in truths denied.


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.

in your vernacular | Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

I’m as ordinary as the next person, the biggest difference is that I was born with the ability to bear children. A significant difference in the eyes of the world. All I want for my children is equality in your vernacular.

A woman, a wife, a lover, do they need to be a professional to grasp the idea of good sex? Do only men enjoy sex? Are women playful objects? Are men playful objects? 

I don’t want the vagina to be a woman’s disadvantage compared to a man’s penis.

The world is full of Mother Earth’s mind blowing caves, versus men erecting phallic monuments all around the world, so women can worship them?

The words are simple, go home and ask your wife, your girlfriend, your lover if they want to have sex like a professional? The mothers of your children now and in the coming future.

Tôi là một người bình thường, khác ở chỗ là tôi sinh ra trời cho tôi bộ phận sinh con đẻ cái. Phân biệt này trên thế giới làm tôi khác hẳn, sự bình đẳng tôi mong muốn cho con tôi bắt đầu từ ngôn ngữ bạn dùng hàng ngày. 

Người đàn bà, người vợ, người tình, cần phải trong nghề mới có thể hiểu thấu tình dục là gì? Không lẽ chỉ có các anh yêu thích tình dục? Người đàn bà chỉ là một trò chơi? Các anh có phải là một trò chơi không?

Tôi không muốn tử cung của những người đàn bà là một sự thiệt thòi so với các dương vật của những người đàn ông. 

Thế giới này bao la những hang động vĩ đại tự nhiên của Mother Earth, còn các anh thì lại phải dựng lên những Phallic Monument vòng quanh thế giới để các chị em chúng tôi tôn thờ? 

Ngôn ngữ rất đơn giản mà, thử về hỏi vợ, bạn gái, người tình của bạn xem họ có thích làm tình như một người trong nghề không? Đây là những người mẹ bây giờ, và những người mẹ tương lai của bạn.


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.

twenty two | Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Twenty two
The number of years that made us
Even when the world is broken

There will always be
A history of you and me
The babies makes four



February 2017


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.