by Vu Thanh Hoa

when I’m cold and indifferent
there is another woman in me
the woman is hotter than fire
wanting to burn you

when I say bitter words
there is another woman in me
the weak fragile woman
wanting to cry on your shoulder

when I say goodbye
there is another woman in me
the woman wants to hug you tight
burying you in the sea of kissing rain

by Vu Thanh Hoa

if it cannot bring the joy
offer each other a sadness

a waving magical coffee drop
water by the lake wets with sparkling moon eyes
at the end of the horizon the birds flap their wings at late night
lonely resounded

sleep, soft grass
sleep, drifting cloud
a singing lonely Gryllidae
round-trip wandering memories

there’s an unknowable tomorrow
there’s a-just-forgot-yesterday
and my name is lost
a train hasn’t left but missed the trip

if it can bring the joy
offer each other a sadness
dear you?

by Vu Thanh Hoa

In the dream last night
I proposed

a perfect person
a soulmate
a tolerant person
an honest person
a person with a disability

I closed the wave door
snuggled into the peaceful blanket
laid down on the default pillow
the right hand held the left hand
solo performance of my journey

in the dream last night
I proposed to me

I made a ring
put it on my finger
I said “I agree”

I knew
This marriage would be never divorced.

by Do Mai Hoa

Translated by Do Mai Hoa

When the last leaves of terminalia catappa fall into
Spring
Left alone on the street
in the middle of a narrow, crowded Hanoi Street
People and vehicle, back and forth
stepping on the leaves of tropical almond tree Rustling,
Old season leaving…
Sprout toiling stretching
into bud Life reborn
Earth and sky
mingle collide
with each other
The greetings
The hugging
even all the formal kisses dabbled the Euro-America way of living
Thrash around leaf tip
Rhythm of March, the changing
season calls me back to that night
your
hands
shaking
… falling
me
into which dimension of space, I wonder?