A poem in Vietnamese by Hứa Hiếu
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

557. NOW

______________

the days are clouds of smoke hovering above the drifting clouds

a mug of coffee yearning for tropical sunlight

the nights are the wandering mists around my brewing exile

the night light tired waiting for the fortnight of moonlight

the day dreary

the nights lonely

an uncertain homeland, gone

now

I’m like a mole cricket

prodding and digging up the blameless earth

looking for relics of a tattered sail

lost somewhere on an abandoned island

in hints of the quintessential spring

with the breeding history of a thousand year

.

the afternoon horizon void of a storm

the brilliant sunlight, the fresh breeze, a time of one’s life

in a rush to step outside

the summer stroll

I’ve completely forgotten about them

my grave barely paid off

the late insurance…