I’M HERE | Lê Vĩnh Tài [485]

A poem in Vietnamese by Lê Vĩnh Tài
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

I’m here
me and my ears
ready to listen to all your fears

my dear
call me
may it be laugher or tears

call me no matter what
I will be hear
I will listen, to all your fears

.
quietly

– love, would you like me to show you my magic?
your ears I will kiss
like this
my eyes you will kiss
like this

because your ears are cold
your eyes are brown and they are bold
they see me all the way to my soul
it’s not what I want
but I will always be here

sound of nothingness in our ears
hollowness all around us

my ears hears you, love:
– you have a kitchen in my mind
the pots and pans hangs on a wall
above a stove
a light blue kitchen table

light beyond the kitchen door
beyond the reach of your warm ears
beyond last night’s sleep
what did you have for breakfast
before we all head for the door?

.
and the noise in the middle of the night
our minds suffocating from all the curse
the ceremony we use to condemn the dark
beyond a dawn that is lit by an unholy red light

beyond the thunderous scream of someone or another
the poor fragile membranes in our ears
love, you demand it – please shut the fuck up
pray that all those lovely angels would stop trying to perforate my eardrums
tear and break what is left of my mind

– please, leave me alone, it’s not hard
prayers of love, calls and answers
until death separates
we’re in the street
your legs my love are like the legs of a football player
when the referee careful rips us apart
time and time again

the sound of a stallion’s hooves pounding on the burning fire of anxious waiting
the reflection of the moon in your eyes love
virtue in a pool of water
at our feet

tôi ở đây
với đôi tai
để lắng nghe nỗi sợ hãi của bạn

thân yêu
hãy gọi cho tôi
cho dù đó là nước mắt hay những tiếng reo hò

cách bạn gọi
dù điều gì sẽ xảy ra
tôi vẫn ở đây
lắng nghe, nỗi sợ hãi của bạn

.
thì thầm

– em có muốn xem phép thuật của anh không?
anh hôn tai em
như thế này
em hôn mắt anh
như thế này

vì tai em rất lạnh
còn mắt em thì nâu
chúng nhìn thấu tâm hồn anh
anh không muốn
nhưng anh luôn ở đó

âm thanh
của hư không trong tai
sự trống rỗng vây xung quanh chúng ta

tai tôi nghe em nói:
– em có một căn bếp
tôi hình dung những chiếc nồi
treo trên một cái lò, một chiếc
bàn ăn màu xanh nhạt

buổi sáng ngoài cửa bếp
không chạm tới hơi ấm của tai em
sau giấc ngủ đêm qua
em đã ăn gì vào bữa sáng?
trước khi chúng ta lao ra khỏi cửa

.
và tiếng ồn mỗi đêm
tâm trí chúng ta bị bóp nghẹt trong những lời nguyền
những nghi lễ nguyền rủa đêm tối
sau khi buổi sáng được thắp sáng bởi màu đỏ bất kính

khi ai đó gầm lên như sấm sét
hai tai mỏng manh
em nói, làm ơn im lặng
cầu xin những thiên thần đừng đâm vào màng nhĩ của anh
xé nát não anh thành từng mảnh

– hãy để tôi yên, dễ quá mà
lời cầu nguyện cho tình yêu, lời gọi và lời đáp
cho đến khi cái chết chia lìa
chúng ta đứng ở một góc phố
đôi chân em như một cầu thủ bóng đá
khi trọng tài cẩn thận xé chúng ra
hết lần này đến lần khác

tiếng vó ngựa trượt trên cảm giác hồi hộp của lửa
và mặt trăng phản chiếu trong mắt em
sự tinh khiết trong một vũng nước
dưới chân chúng ta


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.

HOW TO CONFESS… | Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngọc

Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngọc

thơ Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngọc
Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm dịch

how to confess your love and not lose it
grill other people on how to for the first time love
the unknown doors to brave new worlds
words
vernacular of the flesh
wordless gaze
forget them
run
and that includes death
and still most unfamiliar is affection
the unmet gaze of those we love
dumb anxieties may it be a mean or kind dream

ah who am I to say
to have lived this long to never again love
head first into a river called life
like a fish out of water
craving for death
the way the marriage bed had denied me
as we laugh and cry half a lifetime withered away
by the games we play
cross stitches of pride over shame and humiliation
ignoring the sting of bindii
under foot mistaking it for a lover
love came out of nowhere
over the mountains
through the ravines of a life spent
may it be life or death matter - no
the enthusiasm for oblivion

discerning the bitter struggle
smells of an impending storm
hid behind mirrors of illusions
the way storms are imprisoned
in the smallness of one's fist
as the clouds in the sky would hid
the affections reflected
a fox with nine tails abstained
from worldly interactions for 999 years
and 364 days and its tails are dripping
teary still
cunning enough to get marry
to avoid being strike down by lightning
cunning enough to get marry
as a glorify way to confess
love
regardless of a love that is not real
regardless of the agony of true pain
regardless of how harden humanity had become
in its wisdom water could still break
a misguided spirit guardian howling in the dark
enough fret to trouble the moon

LÀM THẾ NÀO…

 
Làm thế nào để tỏ tình mà tình không biến mất
tra vấn tha nhân bài học vỡ lòng yêu
Những cánh cửa đời xa lạ biết bao-
lời,
ngôn ngữ thân xác,
mắt câm,
quên nó đi,
chạy,
và cả chết…
Nhưng xa lạ nhất vẫn là tình
Người mà ta không dám ngó vào mắt khi đối diện
ngẩn ngơ lo cơn mộng dữ hay lành

Ôi ta,
sống đến đây tưởng như không bao giờ yêu được nữa
lao vào dòng sống ngày mỗi ngày
như cá lao mình khỏi nước
nhìn cái chết thèm thuồng
như nhìn chiếc giừơng cưới luôn chối từ ta
tàn nửa đời trộn cười khóc làm trò chơi
đan xéo lòng kiêu nhòa nỗi nhục
giả dại hôn ngọn cỏ châm đau mà ngỡ người tình
Chợt tình đến,
ngang tàng núi non,
lạnh lẽo huyệt thẳm
mòn sống,
thờ ơ chết,
nồng nhiệt với hư vô

Cảm được vị đắng nhọc nhằn,
mùi giông sắp đến
đành nhốt tình sau tấm gương bóng ảo chờn chờn
như nhốt bão trong lòng tay nhỏ
như vùa mây đỉnh trời che kính chiếu yêu
hồ ly tu 999 năm 364 ngày,
đuôi còn nhỏ lệ
mưu toan kết hôn chạy trốn sét trời
mưu toan kết hôn như để tỏ tình
Yêu,
bất chấp tình ảo
bất chấp nỗi đau đớn thật
bất chấp ngọc người ngàn năm tri thức tan bóng nước
Tịch tà lạc bóng
âm âm tiếng hú gợn nhàu trăng



Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngọc

Director Nguyễn Thị Minh Ngọc, born 5 August 1953 in Bà Rịa, Vietnam. She graduated from stage directing in 1980, trained as an actor at the Ho Chi Minh City School of Theater and Cinema and Tran Huu Trang Theater. She was a student of director Nguyen Tuong Tran (second generation disciple of Konstantin Stanislavski), trained as a cải lương performer with People’s Artist Phung Ha, and she trained many renowned native and international drama and cải lương artists like: Meritorious Artist Huu Chau, Huu Nghia, Hong Dao, Quang Minh, Meritorious Artist Huu Quoc, Meritorious Artist My Hang, Luong My, Mai Lan, Hoa Hiep, Xuan Trang, Thanh Phuong.

She taught the subjects of Screenwriting, Drama Theory and History of Vietnamese Theatre at several colleges and universities, co-founded the Experimental Directing Club (1985), staged about 30 traditional and contemporary plays, wrote about 70 traditional and contemporary plays for the stage and about 30 scripts for cinema, hundreds of episodes for television, several research works on theatre and reformed opera, attended many festivals, seminars, composed and researched on theatre and education in the country and in Australia, England, France, Germany, Tanzania, Norway, Sweden, Philippines, USA, Indonesia, and was the stage personality of the year 2004 voted by Vietnam Television.

She was an actress for the stages: 5B Vo Van Tan, Idecaf… The roles that the audience remembers: Otilia, The Chicken Raising Girl & The Old Girl (Du Luan Quan Chung), Aunt Ba Kim Duyen (Ngoi Nha Khong Dan Men), Grandma (Cau Dong), Grandma Ca & Grandma To Gia (Long Dang Do Cao), Grandma (Tam Nguoi Dan Ba), Crazy Audience (Thuong Hoai Ngan Nam), Grandma Hanh Ngo (Mot va cua toi?). The most recent role was Grandma Vu in the MV Tan Vo with Dam Vinh Hung and Nhan Phuc Vinh.[1] The performance “The Last Romantic” is a 60-minute solo performance made up of ten tragicomic monologues that Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc used to illustrate her talks about theater at universities in and outside the country.

In addition, she is also a member of the Writers, Theater, and Cinema Associations, and is one of the 20 outstanding writers of Ho Chi Minh City selected by the Ho Chi Minh City Writers Association.

She is the first Vietnamese woman to bring Vietnamese works to the off-off Broadway stage in New York as an author, director and actress, including: Lost Woman (2008) and We Are… (2011). She was selected as the highlight of the Vietnamese International Film Festival (VIFF) in the US (2007).

In addition to documentaries about Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc produced by VTV, HTV, Binh Duong, and Long An television stations, in 2015, director Hung Phuong made the documentary “Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc – The Treasure Keeper of Gold and Jade” 19’36” long and won first prize in the “I Preserve Beauty” contest.


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.

M i s s i o n | Bùi Chát

Sứ mệnh Sơn dầu, oilstick trên canvas 150x200cm 2025 by Bùi Chát

poem inspired art by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

I’m here and I will continue to
challenge myself
the way I have always challenged myself
challenge the meaninglessness
of meaning
of all that is iconic

S ứ m ệ n h

Tôi đến và tiếp tục
Chống lại tôi
Như đã từng chống lại tôi
Chống lại sự vô nghĩa
Của ý nghĩa
Của các biểu tượng

(Chúng ta đang trôi đi đâu?! – Nxb Đà Nẵng 2025)


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.

Oneway | Bùi Chát

Fansipan Mountain Sapa is a dream destination for outdoor enthusiasts in Vietnam (Source: Collected)

poem by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

A poem by a patriot
Next to a book of poem by another patriot

Completely still

They sit side by side

Turned silence into wordless silence

So they can stare at a paradise lost

Một hướng


Bài thơ của một người yêu nước mình[1]
Bên tập thơ của một người yêu nước khác

Họ cùng nhau

Ngồi yên

Chuyển lặng im thành im lặng

Để nhìn về thiên đường mất mát

[1] a poem by Trần Vàng Sao


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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 footnote on a journey | Bùi Chát

Khai mạc 'Đang trôi'. Art by Bùi Chát. Photo by Trà Cù Lủ

poem by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

You left me in a rush as though
you’re retreating from a fight where I’m
completed bogged

Chú thích cho một cuộc đi


Em rời bỏ tôi
Vội vã như rút khỏi cuộc chiến
Tôi đã sa lầy

(Chúng ta đang trôi đi đâu?! – Nxb Đà Nẵng 2025)


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.

Drowning | Bùi Chát

Khai mạc 'Đang trôi'. Bùi Chát in the middle. Photo by Trà Cù Lủ

poem by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

I was about to compose a poem with all the words
I picked out from all the poems I have read
My wife stopped me just in time instead
– Are you sure you want to go ahead
People will watch you day and night
(Worried someone might steal their organs or kidnap their poems)
The litigation and lawsuits can drag out until when
Passing from one person to the next day in day out and then
There will be no one left to fend
Enough energy to chase after those new innovations
New poems

Đuối


Tôi đang định làm bài thơ
Bằng những từ được tháo ra từ bài thơ khác
Vợ tôi biết được, bả cản
Nếu anh nhất định làm vậy
Mọi người suốt ngày đêm canh chừng
(Sợ thơ mình bị bắt cóc hoặc lấy cắp nội tạng)
Cuộc kiện cáo giằng co có thể kéo dài
Từ người này sang người này, rồi lại sang ngày khác
Cuối cùng sẽ chẳng còn ai
Đủ sức chạy theo những loài thơ mới


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.

destined | Bùi Chát

Vận mệnh Sơn dầu & oilstick trên canvas 150x200cm 2025 #buichatdangtroi #buichat #dangtroi #22gallery #vanme #phantrongvan #artsaigon #hoihoatinhuong #abstract #vietnamcontemporaryart

poem inspired art by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

if you spend enough time walking
if you walk far enough then you will
you will meet up with the past
and again and again all that pain will start

V ậ n m ệ n h

Nếu đi đủ lâu, đủ xa
Chúng ta sẽ tới được quá khứ
Và mọi nỗi đau sẽ lại bắt đầu

(Chúng ta đang trôi đi đâu?! – Nxb Đà Nẵng 2025)


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.

forget | Bùi Chát

Bui Chat_photo by Tao Lao

poem by Bùi Chát
translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

people generally remember
but for the most, the longer they live
the more they forget

forgetting a person’s name
forgetting something or another
that particular forest they were to give a name
that voice. to the point where there is a place where
they should not forget

for ten years I have forgotten how to write poetry
the verses they escaped me
together with those childish vows
the reason for my existence

lucky though
no matter how bad life gets
some things I will never forget
like how to tell someone to f..k off!

Quên


Nhiều người hay nhớ
Nhưng phần lớn thường quên
Càng sống càng dễ quên

Quên tên một người, hay một đồ vật
Quên một khu rừng quên chưa đặt tên
Quên một giọng nói. Thậm chí
Quên một nơi ở không được phép quên

Tôi đã quên làm thơ trong mười năm
Quên lời thề tuổi trẻ
Quên ý nghĩa tồn tại của mình

May mắn thay,
Dù cuộc đời rượt đuổi
Tôi vẫn không khi nào quên chửi


Bùi Chát is the poet, writer, publisher and artist’s pen name. Bùi Quang Viễn was born on October 22, 1979, at Hố Nai, Biên Hòa, Đồng Nai Province, Việt Nam. Born to family of patriotic Catholic refugees from the North in 1954.

Graduated in 2001 from the Faculty of Literature, Linguistics, and Journalism of Hồ Chí Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Bùi Chát named and cofounded Nhóm Mở Miệng (Open Mouth Group) with the poet and writer Lý Đợi, promoting Graveyard & Garbage Poetry.

Nhà Xuất bản Giấy Vụn (Scrap Paper Publishing House), also founded by Bùi Chát, distributions of xerographically structured sensitive works by “pavement poets”. In 2004, Bùi Chát and cofounder Lý Đợi were detained for two days for distributing flyers at a poetry reading raided by the authority. In 2005, the culture department blocked their performance at the Goethe Institute in Hà Nội.

In 2011, Bùi Chát was awarded the IPA Freedom to Publish Prize “for his exemplary courage in upholding the freedom to publish.” He was arrested on his return to Việt Nam after receiving the award in Buenos Aires and detained for several days.

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.