By Tô Thuỳ Yên, translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

A Professional Beggar

Even the wandering spirits are asleep

On the road still is the beggar

The repeating foregone mournful words

Sound within the neighbourhood?

The begging for sustenance yet satisfied

Self condemning self, bear it(what else is there)

Please disregard not it matter of belonging

At the moment, the world is shut down in the dark

What door is there left to knock upon?

The ensuing dog barking

The suspicious shadow

The loitering breeze in the canopies for the last few days

The winter arriving early

Heaven and earth strict on piling up the burden

Last night, a mate of mine went cold, died in his sleep

Everyone gathered around tried to wake him up

But to no avail

How could an external fire seeps through to the bone

When self is not something that could be…

They say, those who can't do, preach
Maybe, those who can't speak, write
And those who can't write, criticize

Those that have grit, try
Those who don't, let life pass by
Some of them aaccomplish
The others throw stones to tarnish

There are those who do
They may become successful too
And there are those who complain
And find everyone but themselves, vain

Some motivate and encourage
Some others jeer to discourage
The direction you look in
Paves the way for a loss or win

- RUELHAwww.ruelha.com
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Disclaimer:This poem is purely literary. Please read it with an open mind and out of respect for the written word. To me, writing is my life. There is nothing I love more. I have a very creativeimagination. Most of my poems do not hint at my life/situation. Kindly refrain from drawing such parallels. Much…

By Hieu Kien, translation by Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

me

by an illusion

a veil of water

saw you swimming

naked feet struggling

you wept

and I could not see

should I fish you out

all wet

us watching the moon together

gathered in the rising moon

the moon isolated from the city lights

clumsily passing by

the magical night

—

tôi

ngồi trên màn nước 

ảo ảnh

thấy bóng em bơi 

đôi chân trần vẫy vùng

em khóc

tôi không thấy 

hay là tôi vớt em lên 

ướt át 

em có thể cùng tôi ngắm trăng

trăng đang lên 

mặt trăng không nằm trong ánh đèn phố thị

chạng vạng qua đi 

một đêm huyền diệu

Hieu Kien

Aufgrund der Corona-Pandemie mussten die Weihnachtsmärkte in Köln im Jahr 2020 abgesagt werden, doch in diesem Jahr sind sie wieder geöffnet. Da ich gestern sowieso einiges in Köln erledigen musste, nutzte ich die Gelegenheit und sah mir nachmittags einige der Weihnachtsmärkte an. Dazu gehörten die Weihnachtsmärkte auf dem Rudolfplatz, auf dem Neumarkt und am Kölner Dom. Für alle Weihnachtsmärkte in Köln gilt die 2G-Regel (Geimpft und Genesen).