nine gates | Mai Thảo

A poem in Vietnamese by Mai Thảo
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Rising beyond the nine gates of vicissitudes
Thought to have drifted into a stream of redress
Literature is nothing but a thorny crown around a mind on fire
As the body wallow in quicksand

chín cửa

Dềnh lên sau chín cửa thăng trầm
Đã tưởng trôi vào suối giải oan
Văn chỉ vòng gai quanh trán lửa
Thân vẫn dầm thân giữa cát lầm


Mai Thảo [1927-1998] real name is Nguyen Dang Quy, another pen name: Nguyen Dang, he was born on June 8, 1927 in Con market, Quan Phuong Ha commune, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province (originally from Tho Khoi village, Gia Lam district, Bac Ninh province, the same hometown and related to the painter Le Thi Luu), his father was a merchant and wealthy landowner. Mai Thao absorbed his mother’s love of literature from Bac Ninh. As a child, he studied at a village school, went to Nam Dinh high school and then Hanoi (studied at Do Huu Vi school, later Chu Van An). In 1945, he followed the school to Hung Yen. When the war broke out in 1946, the family evacuated from Hanoi to Con market, in the “House of the Salt Water Region”, from then on Mai Thao left home to Thanh Hoa to join the resistance, wrote for newspapers, participated in art troupes traveling everywhere from Lien Khu Ba, Lien Khu Tu to the Viet Bac resistance zone. This period left a deep mark on his literature. In 1951, Mai Thao abandoned the resistance and went into the city to do business. In 1954, he migrated to the South. He wrote short stories for the newspapers Dan Chu, Lua Viet, and Nguoi Viet. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspapers Sang Tao (1956), Nghe Thuat (1965), and from 1974, he oversaw the Van newspaper. He participated in the literature and art programs of radio stations in Saigon from 1960 to 1975. On December 4, 1977, Mai Thao crossed the sea. After 7 days and nights at sea, the boat arrived at Pulau Besar, Malaysia. In early 1978, he was sponsored by his brother to go to the United States. Shortly after, he collaborated with Thanh Nam’s Dat Moi newspaper and several other overseas newspapers. In July 1982, he republished the Van magazine, and was editor-in-chief until 1996, when due to health problems, he handed it over to Nguyen Xuan Hoang; Two years later he died in Santa Ana, California on January 10, 1998.

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.

discerning the soil | Mai Thảo

Autumn in Sydney, Australia. By Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

A poem in Vietnamese by Mai Thảo
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

beneath the cool canopy
through the greenery is the cool sky
the cool scent of the soil
discern the damp scent of the flesh

the rising scent of the soil seeps through our soul
discern the joy and fleeting sadness
amid the majestic sunlight, shadows
a light blanket for sleepy lashes

on the ground to discern the soil for how long
before the long sigh of living breaks the silence
shimmering woven threads of sunlight
sound is the heart and somewhere is the outside

just now the falling sound of death
cut through a golden ray of sunshine pass by
a soul fast asleep amid a dynasty
the silhouette of a dying shadow

nghe đất

Nằm đây dưới bóng cây xanh
Nhìn qua lá biếc lại xanh sắc trời
Mát thơm đất trải bên người
Nghe trong ẩm lạnh da người cũng thơm

Đất lên hương, thấm qua hồn
Nghe Vui thoáng đến với Buồn thoáng đi
Giữa giờ trưa nắng uy nghi
Bóng vây vây nhẹ hàng mi cúi đầu

Người nằm nghe đất bao lâu
Tai nương ngợ tiếng đời sau thở dài
Lung linh sóng nắng đan cài
Cõi Trong điệp điệp Cõi Ngoài mang mang

Chợt đâu rụng tiếng phai tàn
Rơi ngưng nửa dáng nắng vàng trôi qua
Linh hồn thiếp giữa triều hoa
Bóng hình thôi đã nhạt nhoà quanh thân


Mai Thảo [1927-1998] real name is Nguyen Dang Quy, another pen name: Nguyen Dang, he was born on June 8, 1927 in Con market, Quan Phuong Ha commune, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province (originally from Tho Khoi village, Gia Lam district, Bac Ninh province, the same hometown and related to the painter Le Thi Luu), his father was a merchant and wealthy landowner. Mai Thao absorbed his mother’s love of literature from Bac Ninh. As a child, he studied at a village school, went to Nam Dinh high school and then Hanoi (studied at Do Huu Vi school, later Chu Van An). In 1945, he followed the school to Hung Yen. When the war broke out in 1946, the family evacuated from Hanoi to Con market, in the “House of the Salt Water Region”, from then on Mai Thao left home to Thanh Hoa to join the resistance, wrote for newspapers, participated in art troupes traveling everywhere from Lien Khu Ba, Lien Khu Tu to the Viet Bac resistance zone. This period left a deep mark on his literature. In 1951, Mai Thao abandoned the resistance and went into the city to do business. In 1954, he migrated to the South. He wrote short stories for the newspapers Dan Chu, Lua Viet, and Nguoi Viet. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspapers Sang Tao (1956), Nghe Thuat (1965), and from 1974, he oversaw the Van newspaper. He participated in the literature and art programs of radio stations in Saigon from 1960 to 1975. On December 4, 1977, Mai Thao crossed the sea. After 7 days and nights at sea, the boat arrived at Pulau Besar, Malaysia. In early 1978, he was sponsored by his brother to go to the United States. Shortly after, he collaborated with Thanh Nam’s Dat Moi newspaper and several other overseas newspapers. In July 1982, he republished the Van magazine, and was editor-in-chief until 1996, when due to health problems, he handed it over to Nguyen Xuan Hoang; Two years later he died in Santa Ana, California on January 10, 1998.

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.

sixty one | Mai Thảo

Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm

A poem in Vietnamese by Mai Thảo
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Sixty one and I’m standing at the precipice
Waiting for god to bestow us with a sprinkle of youth
God said no, does that mean we still have our youth?
Still have the spirit of Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm

sáu mốt

Sáu mốt cùng ta đứng trước thềm
Đợi trời thả tặng chút xuân thêm
Trời thôi tặng phẩm, xuân còn hết?
Còn cái tinh thần Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm


Mai Thảo [1927-1998] real name is Nguyen Dang Quy, another pen name: Nguyen Dang, he was born on June 8, 1927 in Con market, Quan Phuong Ha commune, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province (originally from Tho Khoi village, Gia Lam district, Bac Ninh province, the same hometown and related to the painter Le Thi Luu), his father was a merchant and wealthy landowner. Mai Thao absorbed his mother’s love of literature from Bac Ninh. As a child, he studied at a village school, went to Nam Dinh high school and then Hanoi (studied at Do Huu Vi school, later Chu Van An). In 1945, he followed the school to Hung Yen. When the war broke out in 1946, the family evacuated from Hanoi to Con market, in the “House of the Salt Water Region”, from then on Mai Thao left home to Thanh Hoa to join the resistance, wrote for newspapers, participated in art troupes traveling everywhere from Lien Khu Ba, Lien Khu Tu to the Viet Bac resistance zone. This period left a deep mark on his literature. In 1951, Mai Thao abandoned the resistance and went into the city to do business. In 1954, he migrated to the South. He wrote short stories for the newspapers Dan Chu, Lua Viet, and Nguoi Viet. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspapers Sang Tao (1956), Nghe Thuat (1965), and from 1974, he oversaw the Van newspaper. He participated in the literature and art programs of radio stations in Saigon from 1960 to 1975. On December 4, 1977, Mai Thao crossed the sea. After 7 days and nights at sea, the boat arrived at Pulau Besar, Malaysia. In early 1978, he was sponsored by his brother to go to the United States. Shortly after, he collaborated with Thanh Nam’s Dat Moi newspaper and several other overseas newspapers. In July 1982, he republished the Van magazine, and was editor-in-chief until 1996, when due to health problems, he handed it over to Nguyen Xuan Hoang; Two years later he died in Santa Ana, California on January 10, 1998.

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.

writing again | Mai Thảo

Mai Thảo và Vũ Hoàng Chương

A poem in Vietnamese by Mai Thảo
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

writing again
in front of a line of people
silent and dying
beyond the barbwire and entrenched prison camp
communism
Thousands of people and Nguyễn Sỹ Tế is first in line
Phan Nhật Nam in the middle
and Tô Thuỳ Yên last in line

writing again
in The United States of America
the USA during those longest days
eating doing nothing dealing with the terror and the trauma of the soul
working eight hours a day
or pacing back and forth it’s all much the same
eat shit and sleep
sleep eat and shit
writing again

the first month of winter
in Minnesota
Vũ Khắc Khoan tripped and fell on his face
twice in the snow

falling on one’s face just means falling on one’s face
how do we stand tall anymore Khoan
how can we stand tall when Vietnam have fallen
and the way you fell on your face in the snow
like on paper, the way the nip of your pen
have been snapped

your friends and confidant encouraged you
to write again so you write
one chosen Sunday at Cornell University
I was there, rummaging through the pile of books
they had burned with the students buried alive
read my old books
old stories still fresh in my mind
comrades
traces of a lifetime
metaphysical obsessions
ingrained
rising from the burned books with the students buried alive
one rainy evening alone in the rain

the snow glaring and sunlight chilled to the bone
a soul valued at about a dollar tucked into
boots, fur, leather, wool, looming
the early mornings in Virginia
In Ngọc Dũng’s kitchen
Me blaring me looming
in a pile of clothes

Nghiêm Xuân Hồng in Huntington Beach
Võ Phiến in Los Angeles
quiet neighbourhoods
living without making a sound
black people standing tall fishing through the night
from a beach hidden by the fog
where land and country is out of sight
the seagulls took flight
the smoke stack of a ship coming home
a breath. garbage. and prostitutes
the Church’s type writer tap tapping
ridiculously at the carnal laughter

Mặc Đỗ in Houston had already lost an eye
trudging four thousands miles to see each other
heading for a house on top of a mountain
one at the bottom and one already there
both as youthful as the forest and old like the stream

Thanh Nam in Seattle throat
severed
deady cancer
walking stick on hand
felt hat hiding his bald head
faced the tears of Tuý Hồng
the last dialogue
in a house in darkness
if you guys are not busy next month
come back for my funeral

while Bùi Giáng is still in Sài Gòn
returning at night to the temple to compose poetry
while during the day he dance and laugh amongst fthe ruit and the veges
a crazy scholar this blinding century

as many are the Thanh Tâm Tuyền for hundred of years far and gone
as many are the Vũ Hoàng Chương who have passed on
as many are the friends they have murdered
Can you still write, you, the one they have left alive?

viết văn trở lại

Viết văn trở lại
Trước một hàng người
Im lặng và hấp hối
Sau kẽm gai cùng thẳm một trại giam
Cộng sản
Hàng ngàn người có Nguyễn Sỹ Tế ở đầu
Phan Nhật Nam ở giữa
Và Tô Thuỳ Yên ở cuối

Viết văn trở lại
ở Mỹ
Nước Mỹ của những ngày dài nhất
Sự ăn không ngồi rồi khủng khiếp của tâm hồn
Lao động tám tiếng một ngày
Hay nhàn du cũng vậy mà thôi
Ăn không ngồi rồi
Ngồi rồi ăn không
Viết văn trở lại

Mới tháng đầu của mùa đông này mà ở Minnesota
Vũ Khắc Khoan đã té sấp hai lần vì tuyết

Té sấp chỉ là vì té sấp
Chúng ta đứng thẳng thế nào được nữa Khoan
Đứng thẳng thế nào Việt Nam đã sập
Và cái té sấp của mày trên tuyết
Như trên giấy
Một ngòi bút bẻ gẫy

Bạn bè nhắc tri âm cũng nhắc
Viết lại đi vâng thì viết lại
Trọn một ngày chủ nhật ở đại học Cornell
Tôi tới đó
Xuống phần thư đọc lại sách mình
Những trang chưa xưa bài viết cũ
Bằng hữu
Những dấu tích một đời
Những ám ảnh siêu hình
Giàn giụa
Lên khỏi phần thư buổi tối mưa bay
Đi dưới mưa một mình

Tuyết sặc sỡ và nắng lạnh buốt
Ủng, lông, da, len, dạ một đồng lù lù
Những sớm mai ở Virginia
Trong bếp nhà Ngọc Dũng
Tôi một đống tôi sặc sỡ tôi lù lù

Ở Huntington Beach có Nghiêm Xuân Hồng
Và Los Angeles Võ Phiến
Mấy địa chỉ âm thầm
Sống không thành tiếng động
Những người da đen đứng câu cá suốt đêm
Dưới bãi biển mù sương
Đất nước khuất
Bầy hải âu cất cánh
Ống khói một con tàu trở về
Hơi thở. Rác. Và bọn gái điếm
Cái máy chữ Nhà Thờ
Đập nhễ nhại trận cười xác thịt

Ở Houston có Mặc Đỗ một mắt đã mù
Vượt bốn ngàn cây số tới thăm nhau
Đi với bạn lên ngôi nhà trên núi
Thằng đã tới thềm thằng còn ở dưới
Cùng trẻ như rừng cùng già như suối

Ở Seattle có Thanh Nam cuống họng
Đứt lìa
Chứng ung thư tàn độc
Cây gậy chống trên tay
Cái mũ dạ che cái đầu trọc lốc
Trước dòng lệ Tuý Hồng
Cuộc bút đàm lần cuối
Trong ngôi nhà bóng tối
Không bận gì tháng tới
Về đây đưa đám tao

Và ở Sài Gòn vẫn còn Bùi Giáng
Tối tối về chùa đêm làm thơ
Ngày ca múa khóc cười giữa chợ
Kẻ sỹ điên thế kỷ mù rồi

Những Thanh Tâm Tuyền trăm năm đã xa
Những Vũ Hoàng Chương nghìn ngày đã khuất
Những bạn bè mày chúng nó đã giết
Còn viết được ư, thằng sống sót?


Mai Thảo [1927-1998] real name is Nguyen Dang Quy, another pen name: Nguyen Dang, he was born on June 8, 1927 in Con market, Quan Phuong Ha commune, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province (originally from Tho Khoi village, Gia Lam district, Bac Ninh province, the same hometown and related to the painter Le Thi Luu), his father was a merchant and wealthy landowner. Mai Thao absorbed his mother’s love of literature from Bac Ninh. As a child, he studied at a village school, went to Nam Dinh high school and then Hanoi (studied at Do Huu Vi school, later Chu Van An). In 1945, he followed the school to Hung Yen. When the war broke out in 1946, the family evacuated from Hanoi to Con market, in the “House of the Salt Water Region”, from then on Mai Thao left home to Thanh Hoa to join the resistance, wrote for newspapers, participated in art troupes traveling everywhere from Lien Khu Ba, Lien Khu Tu to the Viet Bac resistance zone. This period left a deep mark on his literature. In 1951, Mai Thao abandoned the resistance and went into the city to do business. In 1954, he migrated to the South. He wrote short stories for the newspapers Dan Chu, Lua Viet, and Nguoi Viet. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspapers Sang Tao (1956), Nghe Thuat (1965), and from 1974, he oversaw the Van newspaper. He participated in the literature and art programs of radio stations in Saigon from 1960 to 1975. On December 4, 1977, Mai Thao crossed the sea. After 7 days and nights at sea, the boat arrived at Pulau Besar, Malaysia. In early 1978, he was sponsored by his brother to go to the United States. Shortly after, he collaborated with Thanh Nam’s Dat Moi newspaper and several other overseas newspapers. In July 1982, he republished the Van magazine, and was editor-in-chief until 1996, when due to health problems, he handed it over to Nguyen Xuan Hoang; Two years later he died in Santa Ana, California on January 10, 1998.

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.

since the dark ages you have been delusional | Mai Thảo

A poem in Vietnamese by Mai Thảo
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

long or short
a line has always been a line
endless twists splits and turns
it takes you to all places, all corners of the world

you have slept everywhere since you were a child
that last place is me till the day I am old
Old? A soul that is still alive like the wind
A wind that never sleeps, the sound essence of my life

creating the clouds and instigating the sunburn
creating, never from heaven and earth did I ask or borrow
so when both the sun and the moon abandon me
upon my brow is the moonlight safe

since the dark ages you have been delusional
I am a god, it was my choice to come into the world
we are a pair of movie stars, angels
each sitting on their own thrown

stop crying as though your tears is the rain
stop aching as though the rocks can also feel the pain
your heart is wisdom(bụt) and mine life(Buddha)
reserved for each of us in our heart is a burning incense

em đã hoang đường từ cổ đại

Con đường thẳng tắp con đường cụt
Đã vậy từ xưa cái nghĩa đường
Phải triệu khúc quanh nghìn ngả rẽ
Mới là tâm cảnh đến mười phương

Em đủ mười phương từ tuổi nhỏ
Ngần ấy phương anh tới tuổi già
Tuổi ư? Hồn vẫn đầy trăm gió
Thổi suốt đêm ngày cõi biếc ta

Chế lấy mây và gây lấy nắng
Chế lấy, đừng vay mượn đất trời
Để khi nhật nguyệt đều xa vắng
Đầu thềm vẫn có ánh trăng rơi

Em đã hoang đường từ cổ đại
Anh cũng thần tiên tự xuống đời
Đôi ta một lứa đôi tài tử
Ngự mỗi thiên thần ở mỗi ngôi

Đừng khóc dẫu mưa là nước mắt
Đừng đau dẫu đá cũng đau buồn
Tâm em là Bụt tâm anh Phật
Trên mỗi tâm ngời một nhánh hương


Mai Thảo [1927-1998] real name is Nguyen Dang Quy, another pen name: Nguyen Dang, he was born on June 8, 1927 in Con market, Quan Phuong Ha commune, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province (originally from Tho Khoi village, Gia Lam district, Bac Ninh province, the same hometown and related to the painter Le Thi Luu), his father was a merchant and wealthy landowner. Mai Thao absorbed his mother’s love of literature from Bac Ninh. As a child, he studied at a village school, went to Nam Dinh high school and then Hanoi (studied at Do Huu Vi school, later Chu Van An). In 1945, he followed the school to Hung Yen. When the war broke out in 1946, the family evacuated from Hanoi to Con market, in the “House of the Salt Water Region”, from then on Mai Thao left home to Thanh Hoa to join the resistance, wrote for newspapers, participated in art troupes traveling everywhere from Lien Khu Ba, Lien Khu Tu to the Viet Bac resistance zone. This period left a deep mark on his literature. In 1951, Mai Thao abandoned the resistance and went into the city to do business. In 1954, he migrated to the South. He wrote short stories for the newspapers Dan Chu, Lua Viet, and Nguoi Viet. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspapers Sang Tao (1956), Nghe Thuat (1965), and from 1974, he oversaw the Van newspaper. He participated in the literature and art programs of radio stations in Saigon from 1960 to 1975. On December 4, 1977, Mai Thao crossed the sea. After 7 days and nights at sea, the boat arrived at Pulau Besar, Malaysia. In early 1978, he was sponsored by his brother to go to the United States. Shortly after, he collaborated with Thanh Nam’s Dat Moi newspaper and several other overseas newspapers. In July 1982, he republished the Van magazine, and was editor-in-chief until 1996, when due to health problems, he handed it over to Nguyen Xuan Hoang; Two years later he died in Santa Ana, California on January 10, 1998.

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.

the guy who writes for money | Mai Thảo

A poem in Vietnamese by Mai Thảo
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

a life half written, he will finish it
the thumb turning the page and the pinky
write the line about closing the eyes
of a soul about to leave its body

thằng viết mướn

Những trang đời viết còn dang dở
Sẽ có bàn tay ấy viết giùm
Ngón cái sang trang và ngón út
Viết dòng vuốt mắt phút lâm chung


Mai Thảo [1927-1998] real name is Nguyen Dang Quy, another pen name: Nguyen Dang, he was born on June 8, 1927 in Con market, Quan Phuong Ha commune, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province (originally from Tho Khoi village, Gia Lam district, Bac Ninh province, the same hometown and related to the painter Le Thi Luu), his father was a merchant and wealthy landowner. Mai Thao absorbed his mother’s love of literature from Bac Ninh. As a child, he studied at a village school, went to Nam Dinh high school and then Hanoi (studied at Do Huu Vi school, later Chu Van An). In 1945, he followed the school to Hung Yen. When the war broke out in 1946, the family evacuated from Hanoi to Con market, in the “House of the Salt Water Region”, from then on Mai Thao left home to Thanh Hoa to join the resistance, wrote for newspapers, participated in art troupes traveling everywhere from Lien Khu Ba, Lien Khu Tu to the Viet Bac resistance zone. This period left a deep mark on his literature. In 1951, Mai Thao abandoned the resistance and went into the city to do business. In 1954, he migrated to the South. He wrote short stories for the newspapers Dan Chu, Lua Viet, and Nguoi Viet. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspapers Sang Tao (1956), Nghe Thuat (1965), and from 1974, he oversaw the Van newspaper. He participated in the literature and art programs of radio stations in Saigon from 1960 to 1975. On December 4, 1977, Mai Thao crossed the sea. After 7 days and nights at sea, the boat arrived at Pulau Besar, Malaysia. In early 1978, he was sponsored by his brother to go to the United States. Shortly after, he collaborated with Thanh Nam’s Dat Moi newspaper and several other overseas newspapers. In July 1982, he republished the Van magazine, and was editor-in-chief until 1996, when due to health problems, he handed it over to Nguyen Xuan Hoang; Two years later he died in Santa Ana, California on January 10, 1998.

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.

the call to wake up | Mai Thảo

Photography by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

A poem in Vietnamese by Mai Thảo
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

the deadly silence, the earth stunned silent
the wordless streams and dumbfound trees
wake up! wake up the storm inside you, stand up
like the shifting earth plates, spit lava, live

gọi thức

Này suối này rừng cùng tịch lặng
Đất nín nghìn năm cũng lặng cùng
Dậy đi! Dậy hết thành dông bão
Nhảy dựng ngang đời thế đá tung


Mai Thảo [1927-1998] real name is Nguyen Dang Quy, another pen name: Nguyen Dang, he was born on June 8, 1927 in Con market, Quan Phuong Ha commune, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province (originally from Tho Khoi village, Gia Lam district, Bac Ninh province, the same hometown and related to the painter Le Thi Luu), his father was a merchant and wealthy landowner. Mai Thao absorbed his mother’s love of literature from Bac Ninh. As a child, he studied at a village school, went to Nam Dinh high school and then Hanoi (studied at Do Huu Vi school, later Chu Van An). In 1945, he followed the school to Hung Yen. When the war broke out in 1946, the family evacuated from Hanoi to Con market, in the “House of the Salt Water Region”, from then on Mai Thao left home to Thanh Hoa to join the resistance, wrote for newspapers, participated in art troupes traveling everywhere from Lien Khu Ba, Lien Khu Tu to the Viet Bac resistance zone. This period left a deep mark on his literature. In 1951, Mai Thao abandoned the resistance and went into the city to do business. In 1954, he migrated to the South. He wrote short stories for the newspapers Dan Chu, Lua Viet, and Nguoi Viet. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspapers Sang Tao (1956), Nghe Thuat (1965), and from 1974, he oversaw the Van newspaper. He participated in the literature and art programs of radio stations in Saigon from 1960 to 1975. On December 4, 1977, Mai Thao crossed the sea. After 7 days and nights at sea, the boat arrived at Pulau Besar, Malaysia. In early 1978, he was sponsored by his brother to go to the United States. Shortly after, he collaborated with Thanh Nam’s Dat Moi newspaper and several other overseas newspapers. In July 1982, he republished the Van magazine, and was editor-in-chief until 1996, when due to health problems, he handed it over to Nguyen Xuan Hoang; Two years later he died in Santa Ana, California on January 10, 1998.

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.

park | Mai Thảo

Spider at Watson Bay, Sydney, Australia. Photography by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

A poem in Vietnamese by Mai Thảo
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

the stream is in the middle of a forest
the forest is in the middle of a stream
the boundless forest diving into the stream
the stream over flowing
both close and familiar with my sad path
upon the afternoon

park

Suối ở giữa rừng, rừng giữa suối
Rừng mênh mông lặng suối ào tuôn
Cả hai đều rất là thân thiết
Với buổi chiều ta giữa lối buồn


Mai Thảo [1927-1998] real name is Nguyen Dang Quy, another pen name: Nguyen Dang, he was born on June 8, 1927 in Con market, Quan Phuong Ha commune, Hai Hau district, Nam Dinh province (originally from Tho Khoi village, Gia Lam district, Bac Ninh province, the same hometown and related to the painter Le Thi Luu), his father was a merchant and wealthy landowner. Mai Thao absorbed his mother’s love of literature from Bac Ninh. As a child, he studied at a village school, went to Nam Dinh high school and then Hanoi (studied at Do Huu Vi school, later Chu Van An). In 1945, he followed the school to Hung Yen. When the war broke out in 1946, the family evacuated from Hanoi to Con market, in the “House of the Salt Water Region”, from then on Mai Thao left home to Thanh Hoa to join the resistance, wrote for newspapers, participated in art troupes traveling everywhere from Lien Khu Ba, Lien Khu Tu to the Viet Bac resistance zone. This period left a deep mark on his literature. In 1951, Mai Thao abandoned the resistance and went into the city to do business. In 1954, he migrated to the South. He wrote short stories for the newspapers Dan Chu, Lua Viet, and Nguoi Viet. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspapers Sang Tao (1956), Nghe Thuat (1965), and from 1974, he oversaw the Van newspaper. He participated in the literature and art programs of radio stations in Saigon from 1960 to 1975. On December 4, 1977, Mai Thao crossed the sea. After 7 days and nights at sea, the boat arrived at Pulau Besar, Malaysia. In early 1978, he was sponsored by his brother to go to the United States. Shortly after, he collaborated with Thanh Nam’s Dat Moi newspaper and several other overseas newspapers. In July 1982, he republished the Van magazine, and was editor-in-chief until 1996, when due to health problems, he handed it over to Nguyen Xuan Hoang; Two years later he died in Santa Ana, California on January 10, 1998.

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.