Mai Văn Phấn
English version by Võ Thị Như Mai
Võ Thị Như Mai, poet, translator
A Drink on New Year’s Eve
Parents
Shining on me
Their brightness
A sip for you
Listening to a pop
At root end and branch top
Solemnly
Turning into a seed
Sipping pure dew
Ripe Fruit
Breathing in slowly
Spring heels
Young fruits around here
But calling their souls from everywhere
Birds song
Lead by different types of weather
On the sharp tongue
In the arms of waves
The slower you eat
The better flavour you taste
Spring Breeze
Believing
Pebbles can fly
Breeze always whispers
About the dream of clouds
Calling the swallow
To cruise out as a model
Croissants
Smell delicious
Freshly out of the oven
Chew slowly
Bells ringing steadily
Ding-a-ling
The sole
Looking up
Clouds drifting by
Shining down on
Mother’s gentle breast
Casting
Those in quarantine
In the garden
Casting
Casting by thought
Not bait
Nor a hook
Can’t be bothered catching
Multiple wriggled fish
Under the grass
Wait till midnight
A big fish
Splutter out of a dream
ECO-FRIENDLY
Earth
is a maternity ward
The
first cry of a newborn transmitted to natural space through lines
of
code …
That
night, season freshly started
Softly
he gave her a swift kiss through the canopy
When
a dewdrop melting in the lush green branch
Loneliness
sweeping through midday hot and dry
Trembled
leaves falling from season passing by
Fierce
and yet as gentle as a breeze
The
breeze from seafoam the shade of sky
Dawn
arisen brightening half your life
The
other half has merged into darkness
Lawn
along the paths hastily greenish
Left
some trace of its colour on his shoes
Ocean
wave on top of the tree whispering outside each veranda
Time
will hurriedly pass as the ship sailing away
When
each of us is a leaf everyday
Then
rooftops and bamboo groves are around our house
Earth
is a maternity ward
The
first cry of a newborn transmitted to natural space through lines
of
code …
A Thunderbolt
Under His Balanced Foot
He
lifted his foot
The
other foot
was
about to land
Out
of the blue the silvereye breathing
And
tough mother tree’s roots
Spreading
out to protect their seedlings
Fully
aware of not being able to fly
Unable
to lift off the ground
He
kept the same position
Wind,
please don’t blow hastily
Flock
of brown sparrows, please slow down
Calm
river out there with no sound
How
to keep balance as a whole
So
anchovies could avoid brackish water
Hay
and rice straw from first season to be dried faster.
Tucked
The Wings
Attentively
On
looking out of the plane window
Through
eyes of an eagle
His
thoughts spreading out against the sky
His
visionary wings
Dipping
in the wind
Past
the clouds
Above
mountaintops
The
meadows are minimal
Passing
border gate
screened
carefully by border force officer
Nothing
different was found
He
was not aware of
Where
his wings
were
tucked.
White-Breasted
Waterhen in The Lake
Bird
reflection in water
Was
it swimming
Or
drifting in the wind
Gracefully
and leisurely
White
-breasted waterhen
With
its nature
Sketches
scenic lines
Under thin layers of clouds
lakebed
shimmering
imperial
city
and
ruins
He
stopped at the lake
Looking
closer to each sketching line
The
waterhen flew away
Left behind the image still
wet on the lake.
WORDS UNFOLDED
Start the new year
By writing to brighten the dark
Penmanship
Reigns vision
The finest gem
Is set in my heart
Dawn awaiting
To rewrite words of previous night.
AROMATIC CỐM
Fall hesitantly comes
immature rice kernels in the mist
Silky outfit and wrap cuddling skin
Gliding autumn cold breeze to the air
The excited pounding rhythm in harvest season
Baskets and sieve sifting yellow husks from rice
Refreshing grapefruit in hot and dry sunshine
Sweet scented Osmanthus with its pureness
A petal of lotus flower after rain shining
Yearning deeply for enlightenment and rebirth
Green lotus leaves wrapping fresh Cốm
And our love deep in summer skyline
Two souls shone in affection of utmost silence
Cốm’s aroma in the air of persimmon ripen.
YOUR ETERNALLY BEAUTIFUL PLACE
In memory of John Wilfred Harper Fullerton Dickie, Father of Poet Susan Blanshard.
You blissfully pass away in peace
while morning dew is glistening
Along the wall poppies shine bright red.
We cry the cries weeping sound,
not hearing the curtains fluttering in the breeze
nor the dried nuts falling from the trees.
And there is a minute of silence.
We hear your footsteps on the road,
shifting pebbles.
You then cross many lakes,
past the fields of wheat, canola and lavender
far above the thatched roof houses.
So we are able to behold
your eternally beautiful place of warmth and comfort
where the sun gathers its light.
Hải Phòng, 11 August, 2017
(English version by Võ Thị Như Mai. Edited by Susan Blanshard)
OPEN UP
1.
the soil swells
the river flows
waterfront from this side
is the same as the other
humans
grassland
animals
depend upon water
shine in water
breathe a sigh
agonize
despair
castles in air
the path
though unseen
let’s follow the river
to where we are keen
2.
unwilling footsteps
have blurred each line
which whom had drawn?
and when, who knows?
Inside or out
the zone once marked
befoul
many return
after crossing the boundary
bring back such dreadful story
unrevealing
or unable to decode?
this almost tragic consternation
only a moment ago
barely remains haunted
like nothing to show
3.
a day has gone
little has been done
neatly lay the farming tools
and bundles of baskets
in the kitchen corner
fill the dried lamp wick
with liquid fuel
to place on the shrine
dignified
speak in whispers to the deceased
treasured those memories
of poverty
and humbleness
though set strong will
till in the dawn dream wish to be a caterpillar
mistaken poison as food
a butterfly
4.
each generation
has its own apprehension
a question happens to be learned
“wouldn’t many generations be under the same roof?”
faded into the shuffling crowd
this morning
individually rush
to find a way out
5.
the friendly neighbour
peeks through his window
“to the café, will you?”
“sorry, I can’t.”
tired of such usual place
the unchanged tale and face
cautiously scans around
softly he mutters
“in my last night dream
people vanishing
out that walkway - dim”
bring back to my mind
in contemplation
exactly how I vision
speechless, without motion
on our window bars, we lean
till noon
6.
birds in their cage
unaware of soon to engage
freedom
bending
to peck seeds
surround the thin trough
no space to exceed
neither remember to chirp
nor to fear
gently lift the tiny door
with positive thoughts
I hear myself sing
a song of bird chirping
7.
laying on the grass I feel
an eagle inside me
so real
spread the wings to take off
closing my eyes to feel the warmth and soft
of my motherland
with bloodstream soaking
once bones scattering
from those lost souls
lift up my eyes
high and deep
to the blue sky
Perth, Australia 19/5/2017
BIOGRAPHY OF VO THI NHU MAI
Vo Thi Nhu Mai was born in Dalat, Lam Dong in 1976. She worked as a high school English teacher in Ba Ria Vung Tau for 5 years. She then moved to Australia to complete Graduate Diploma in Primary Teaching, then Master Degree in literacy. She has been working as a primary school teacher from 2004 till present in Western Australia. Vo Thi Nhu Mai is a poet whose publication in Vietnamese including Tan man (Scattered, 2009); Ben kia tit tap dai duong (On the Other Side of the Far Away Ocean, poetry, 2011); Vuon co tich (The Fairy Garden, poetry, 2015); Tu tuyet Covid – 19 of Vo Que (The Quatrains of Covid – 19, English version by Vo Thi Nhu Mai, 2020). A collection of English poems from some Vietnamese authors with her English version will be published this year, 2021.
Võ Thị Như Mai, poet, translator