Văn Học Ngoại Biên — Literature Beyond
Ngộ ơi,
đời ta đã đạt được những gì vĩ đại chưa
mà dám nhận tình yêu em
Những con đường mòn chân
chưa có em
Cần nuối tiếc gì những làn sóng đen
đã bạc từ bao giờ
—
Funny
have I achieved anything great in my life
to dare accept your love
The worn paths
you’ve not start
(September 2021)
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.
half a lifetime
yet dead
flesh oozing
the aching juice of passion
the fat maggots
six feet under
the lovers
so
I’ve
wondered
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.
i
giggle with the thought
simple
the letters being shifted
sideways ___ then up
me
an accent in your verses
high___
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.
A poem in Vietnamese by Phạm Công Thiện
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Girls far away are like dreams
Closer they’re these odd things
Eyes closed they’re like aliens
Eyes open: gosh, they’re startling
—
May 2022
—–
Càng xa càng mông lung
Tới gần vẫn lạ lùng
Nhắm mắt sao lạ quá
Mở ra: ồ không cùng
Nguồn: Phạm Công Thiện, Trên tất cả đỉnh cao là lặng im, NXB Văn hoá Sài Gòn, 2009
Phạm Công Thiện, the poet, Buddhist philosopher, and scholar, under the name of Nguyên Tánh was born on June 1st, 1941 in Mỹ Tho, Vietnam. He left Vietnam in 1970, lived in Israel, Germany, then for a while in France. In 1983, he moved to the United States, settled in Los Angeles, and became a professor of Buddhism at the College of Buddhist Studies. He passed away on August 3rd, 2011 in Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
[Source: thivien.net]
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.
I am my father’s daughter, I am nothing and everything without him. My soul is torn each time I think of all the alleys and valleys he had walked. My father stayed after Saigon fell, never regretting the opportunity to leave, till the end he had hope. To end what is our family, my father put a gun to our heads on April 30th,1975; To risk our young life at sea for the freedom of words. I resent the voice of those who say – you hold too much of the past. My family’s scars are small in the vast populace of whom were violated children, stolen women and those missing at sea.
I have searched all my life for the man that is my father; Fathers of daughters, they know the mountains their daughters must climb – you must work twice as hard, bear children and be the mocking of man.
I see in you my friend, the aspirations of my father, your daughters see you for the man that you are. I see your heart breaks when her heart is broken. I see your smiles when she is loved; your anxieties when she loves. I know that you will make her is and will be – you are my father, my husband, my lover, my friend, my muse.
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.
A poem by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Art: a portrait of Phan Quỳnh Trâm by Đinh Trường Chinh
YOUR WIT MY LADY IS MY DOWNFALL
(a poem inspired by Phan Quỳnh Trâm)
Your wit my lady is my downfall
I’m at your feet
grovelling
I’m your cloak and dagger
use me
please
By this daunting horizon
your eyes are my guiding light
the muscles in my thighs
the air in my ventricles
the fresh air in my mind
You’re measured by nothing at all
the extent of your boundaries
the oxygen in your lungs
They see your shell
Never your hell
The value of love paid
by a currency born of your soul
so behold my love
You are the clear sky
the blissful clouds at dusk
the dust in their eyes.
_____
JULY 2021
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.
A poem for kids in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Lãm Thắng
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Four tiny legs
Bearing a big belly
In a patchy brown coat
A meek old soul
Sitting in a hole
Remembering so
The droughts of old
The calls for the rain.
—
June 2023
Bốn chân nho nhỏ
Khiêng cái bụng to
Áo sồi loang lổ
Cóc ngồi hiền khô
Cóc ngồi trong hóc
Nhớ chuyện ngày xưa
Mùa màng gặp hạn
Gọi trời đổ mưa.
Born August 14th, 1973, writes under many pseudonyms: Nguyễn Lãm Thắng, Lam Thuỵ, Trà Thị Kim Xuyến and as a children’s author: Nguyễn Trần Bảo Nghi, Du Lãm, Nhật Quang, Nguyễn Trần Khải Tú…
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.
A poem for kids in Vietnamese by Nguyễn Lãm Thắng
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
The roaming sunlight
Lead noon across the city
Lead scents through the alleys
Lead breeze across the sky
The roaming sunlight
Lead clouds over the mountains
Lead bird songs home
To the springs and valleys
The roaming sunlight
Left their cool shades behind
And nan’s soft hands
Soft lullabies
The roaming sunlight
Wrap tot in a blanket
Wrap tot in a deep sleep
Wrap tot in a lullaby.
—
May 2023
Cái nắng đi chơi
Dắt trưa qua phố
Dắt gió qua trời
Dắt hương qua ngõ
Cái nắng đi chơi
Dắt mây qua núi
Dắt tiếng chim rơi
Về thăm khe suối
Cái nắng đi chơi
Bóng râm ở lại
Và tiếng ru hời
Rất êm của ngoại
Cái nắng đi chơi
Bé còn say ngủ
Ru hỡi ru hời
Cái ngủ còn say.
Born August 14th, 1973, writes under many pseudonyms: Nguyễn Lãm Thắng, Lam Thuỵ, Trà Thị Kim Xuyến and as a children’s author: Nguyễn Trần Bảo Nghi, Du Lãm, Nhật Quang, Nguyễn Trần Khải Tú…
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 