by Nguyen The Ky

Translated into English by Nguyen Thuy Hoa,
with revisions by John Liddy

After thousands and thousands of years
I’m pulled back by a song to a faraway road
Among mountain, stream and faint sounds
From somewhere with a lullaby in the wind…

One afternoon, in the fire and smoke of war,
Embracing her child, she longed for the return
Of her warrior from the sky’s edge in a strange,
Distant land, the poetry of her gone-away man

Pained on an empty lane, his business lost,
Ashamed to come home, he lay deep in the river
While lonely beauty waited for days and nights,
For half a life, night dew wetting her hair

Rain falling on her shoulders, sculpted by time
And the elements, a statue of love for posterity.
I now walk in the dim afternoon hearing the stone’s
soul of simple things, an effigy for our country.

Lady To Thi is not lonely now in our company,
Her pink heart still beats and her entrails spawn
In the blood-flow of millions of people,
Her eyes wide open in Nam Quan

As I walk in the dim afternoon, eternity’s
White cloud passing over her head
On mountain and mulberry field,
To live forever in us, engraved.

by Ly Thai Phuong

Translated into English by Nguyen Thuy Hoa,
with revisions by John Liddy

Once being love sick
I sat playing with the wind
Suddenly realized the storm
Can bring back peace

Once being forgotten
Buried in sleepless nights
Realized that after bitterness
Would be sweeter

Once my hand let go
Coldly and didn’t look back
But the loneliness
Clung to the footsteps

Once I missed a heartbeat
Plunged into the wave
Realized that sunstroke
Made struggling for a lifetime

n Vietnam, saying “sunstroke” means you crush someone.

by Ly Thai Phuong

Translated into English by Nguyen Thuy Hoa,
with revisions by John Liddy

To forget a love, needs a new love
Even if it’s crueler, even if I raise my head in a hurry
Even the field of flowers blooms and fades
Like a canopy of leaves changing colour from season to season!

by Ly Thai Phuong

Translated into English by Nguyen Thuy Hoa,
with revisions by John Liddy

Could it be that bridges are just for people to cross
Could it be that we will meet again there
How many bridges in this world bear love locks?
Love oaths weigh on time

Could it be that I will see you again
In the midst of endless days, in a moment’s pause
Could it just vibrate between beats
Down where the river roared and flowed

Could it be forever like that?
Bridges are just for people to cross endlessly
Like a river that never flows back
And the bridge builder himself went far away.