A poem in Vietnamese by Thanh Tâm Tuyền

Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

---

IN TIME

–

When tomorrow the museum is closed

(To then open once more on another day

What for)

Throwing the last cigarette butt into the river

As our insides are spread out on a rock

A boat would glide by

The afternoon will not be green purple or red

Tired smokestacks

-

Who complained that it was yet the bamboo season

The coming season of bamboo will be less light less sweet

The forest bamboo gardened in the darkness of June

There will the cycling trips through the fields

Rooftops fast asleep under the blossoming white canopy of sugarcane

The will be visits of a family member or two

A cousin an auntie maybe

The sky might darken then

Like eyes

Like this abandoned alleyway

Today

Discerning those familiar lyrics

The name of a woman denoting…

SANTIAGO GALICIA ROJON SERRALLONGA

Derechos reservados conforme a la ley/ Copyright

Con tristeza, noto, en la ciudad donde radico, como en otras tantas que visito, la enajenación en la que, lamentablemente, se encuentran inmersos tantos niños. Las redes sociales, los juegos, la basura, la estulticia y las superficialidades, maquillajes que disfrazan y ocultan las monstruosidades que hay atrás y los planes tan perversos que alguien, y otros más, pareparan en contra de la humanidad, especialmente en perjuicio de las generaciones jóvenes, los mantienen distraídos, enajenados e idiotizados, totalmente atrapados en lecciones deshumanizadas para romperlos, destruir las familias y las instituciones, volverlos inútiles y torpes, transformarlos en marionetas dependientes, masificarlos y controlarlos. Si de pronto se les arrebatan, a los niños, los celulares y todos los equipos que los transportan a realidades estúpidas -y conste que no estoy en contra de la ciencia y la tecnología cuando se utilizan para bien-…

SANTIAGO GALICIA ROJON SERRALLONGA

Derechos reservados conforme a la ley/ Copyright

Al pronunciar su nombre, suavemente, me pregunto si le gustaría que, con las mismas letras, le escribiera algo, un poema, un texto, un te amo, para que me sienta, como antes y siempre, en usted, y me descubr en su mirada de espejo y en su pulso, en su esencia y en su textura. Al recordarla, casi me atrevo a interrogarla con el objetivo de proponerle ser su aurora y su ocaso, su día y su noche, para acompañarla y nunca renunciar a usted. Si me aceptara como su amanecer, tenga la certeza de que sería el sol que asomaría a su ventanal con la idea de anunciarle que la vida inicia otra vez con nuevas tonalidades, el perfume de la flor que con delicadeza se impregne en su piel, la policromía intensa del paisaje que maquille su rostro…

Three years ago the following  (by me) was published in The Avalon Review:

RELAX — the image is not really me

___________________

Smooth sailing,  that’s what it’s like.  If you get old enough folks don’t expect much out of you anyway, so take out your hearing aids and get comfy.  Finally, you can just ignore the aches and pains that aren’t the real you, and  enjoy what’s been bubbling up inside all these years.

Honor yourself and let the creative juices flow.  You’re free to mix up the years, even the people if you want.  Get out the crayons, the paints, scoot up to a computer and let ‘er rip.  You’ve seen a lot, got good stories under your belt.  Get them on paper and even if they won’t listen, they can read them some day, or you can sneak them out of the house  and tell others.

When you…

Image: artfido.com   Johnson Tsang

DISMAY — For two months now China has been enduring a prolonged heat wave.  The New Scientist reported that hundreds of places have reported temperatures of more than 40°C (104°F), and many records have been broken. Subway stations have set up rest areas where people can recover from the heat.  On 18 August, the temperature in Chongqing in Sichuan province reached 45°C (113°F).

APPRECIATION —  Finished reading an enjoyable and exceptionally well-written book, Entwined, by Joyce Wallace Scott, whose Down Syndrome twin sister spent more than three decades in a state institution.

FRUSTRATION — Having spent more than fifty dollars on a new bird feeder, two days have passed and not a single bird has visited to peck at the new,  easy-to-reach bird seed.

ENJOYMENT —  Spent time at a local thrift store with super wonderful, unusual items, including an illustrated book of myths.

EMBARASSED  — to…

Reprise

I don’t know if street art ever really works indoors. If you domesticate an animal, it goes from being wild and free to sterile, fat and sleepy. So maybe the art should stay outside.

Bansky

_{^{Photos : Filipa Moreira da Cruz}}