Văn Học Ngoại Biên — Literature Beyond
a ghost
accidently possessing
the author
sometimes invited
out from the sea
from the sky
the attraction
allure, magnetism
sometimes the ghost does not want to
but loves to wander and play
like dracular
flying nowhere in particular
out in the world
as a ghost
it’s fun
hence, it’s not done.
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.
tôi là nhà giàu
cảm xúc
tiền tôi hay hoang phí
tôi mua rượu
cảm xúc
tôi đem chúng
hết vào thơ
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.
aesthetic and social norm
you must conform
slim down
– you’re too fat!
dye your hair
– you’re too grey!
shut up
– you’re a woman!
you like sex?
– you’re a whore!
CONFORM TO SOCIAL NORM
I am fat
I am grey
I speak up
I love sex
THE ART OF LIVING
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.
Ta thèm chi mùa xuân
ta đã chín mùa hè
nóng trong lòng mùa thu
đu đưa rồi với tuyết.
Ta cần gì phải nhè,
đúng không? (Những con tắc kè)
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.
Tired cranky vividly antisocial
Be I fall into the dark of shadows
Ego for company
I force my way through the month’s rain
Into the beautician’s chair
Made I “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
The kindness
Through a stranger’s lens
My spirit restored.
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.
khi mẹ buồn
đi kiếm con
con gái mẹ
xanh tuổi trẻ
khi mẹ buồn
đi kiếm con
con gái mẹ
mãi bên mẹ
khi mẹ buồn
ai biết ư
họ đứng nhìn
họ làm thinh
tôi mảnh vỡ
vạt áo rách
khi tôi buồn
ai biết ư?
When I’m blue
I’ll look for you
Pretty pretty hues
Shade shades of cool
When I’m blue
Will you be true
As if on cue
Sit here by this stool
When I’m blue
It’s nothing new
Will they have a clue
Sit by to watch and view
Me in pieces
Shredded
When I’m blue
Who knew?
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 English by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
Translator: Lê Vĩnh Tài
to my nephew and his new wife
to you dear love and your new life
to the small child heart-shaped smile
chubby cheeks clumsy feet on the tile
to the largeness of what is marriage
may your love be the carriage
to a lifetime of vows
to many many wows
be there a furrowed brow or two
I know you can woo
to this family true
my niece you are too
forgive him his clumsy feet
forgive him his chubby cheeks
a woman in the marriage
sometimes is the carriage
but I promise you
when you are blue
my nephew,
who is very very cool
his love will be true
because our love
your family will
carry you.
Gửi cháu trai yêu thương của dì,
và vợ mới cưới
Dì gửi đến tình yêu và cuộc đời mới của cháu
một nụ cười hình trái tim,
gương mặt cháu bầu bĩnh
đang học cách bước
trên nền gạch còn lạnh.
Dì gửi cháu một cuộc hôn nhân
nơi tình yêu là một cỗ xe lặng thầm,
chở theo cả một đời lời thề,
những lời chúc tụng
như những người ngồi chung một băng ghế,
cả những lúc mệt mỏi
chỉ kịp cau mày
rồi lại thôi.
Dì biết
cháu sẽ yêu thương gia đình này
Cả cháu gái của dì
cũng vậy.
Mọi người sẽ học cách tha thứ
cho những bước chân còn vụng về,
cho đôi má bầu bĩnh của cháu
Người phụ nữ trong hôn nhân
đôi khi là cỗ xe,
đôi khi là con đường
mang theo cháu.
Nhưng dì hứa với cháu
khi cháu buồn,
cháu trai của dì, người rất tuyệt vời,
tình yêu của cháu sẽ đủ chân thành
để không bỏ ai lại phía sau.
Bởi vì tình yêu của chúng ta,
bởi vì gia đình này,
luôn ở đó,
lặng lẽ
nâng đỡ cháu.
Lê Vĩnh Tài, the poet and translator born in 1966 in Buon Ma Thuot, Daklak, Vietnam. The retired doctor is still a resident of the Western Highlands and a businessman in Buon Ma Thuot.
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 new experience in my fifties is always an unexpected adventure. Wide round eyes of a child. I don’t know what will happen. I am overwhelmed by the excitement but more so the amusement.
It is my first time attending an exibition of an artist I have translated and shared more than a schooner of beer. The word surreal lacks definition in regards to the cocktail of emotions that painted my blank canvas of expectations.
I drew a blank. What on earth was “Cụ Tượng”? Something about Hàn Mặc Tử, a poet who was famous for the depiction of the moon in his poetry.
I am a stranger in a strange city, and being a stranger is my super power. I tried to catch the eye of those around me, I wanted to understand what “Cụ Tượng” means, it can’t be “Mr. Tuong” according to Google.
– It’s abstract, you’re not supposed to understand it.
– I don’t know, I came here with my husband, my husband used to go to school with the artist.
I surveyed the room, I understood, the opening of an exhibit, a social event. Art connects people. People were everywhere, immersed in conversation. My previous experience in an art gallery has always been solitude. The meaning of the latest body of work by the artist was lost in all the chaos, body heat, chatter.
My ears focused on the rise and fall , notes in Bùi Chát’s voice, his welcome speech. And still, my blank canvas remained whitewashed. Incomprehensible was my first invitation to the opening of an art exhibition.
Incomprehensible but not out of place. I was surrounded by art. I was a part of the exhibit. I am art.
Concrete is the abtract. The concrete abstract. Cụ Tượng.
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 