A verse in Vietnamese by Lê Vĩnh Tài
Translator: Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm
The mayor of the city of Melitopol, just returned from being kidnapped by the Russians: “These are my first words after 6 days at the detention centre, I like to thank all the people of Melitopol, who, without the fear arrest, interrogation, torture, defended their standing and point of view, protested, fought. We are free people, we will protect our rights, I believe that, in the near future, the Ukrainian flag will fly again on the flagpole of the city…”
you see the beauty of a young woman
in the lewd hands
of a man
he’s like a ghost turning up just before the sunset
you could feel the echo of a fragile
ancient beauty
destruction
of lifetimes
temples, stupas
not just poets but churches
glorious against the sky
like the temples of retribution
throughout our cities
temples under dark clouds
rising periodically against the dark
cries of those who were not afraid
you see a woman
she smiles
joy chasing after dusk
a sound mystery
in the blink of an eye
you’re steeped in golden light across the horizon
colours of the robes of those
who have been monks for many lifetimes
her hair is short and not long
she’s not Snow White
her skin brown burnished by sunlight and her face bloodied
she has no curves hips waist or anything
like Snow White, she’s sweet
but there’s one point of difference
Snow White is a princess, and she’s a farmer
from a village
rice terraces
thatch roof huts
fields of sunlight pungent with the scent of cogon grass you used to sucked on as a child
squishy and sweet
she had a few friends
tiny little friends, shrivelled up and grey
they hid like spiders on the ceiling
shuddering spider web in the wind
from these corners out of view
from a tiny room
just enough room to breathe
she came
all her possessions
packed neatly in one backpack
as though there’s just enough room
for her to shove you in
take you with her
when it was time to leave, leave
how could anyone leave
in the end all we did see
was a happy smile
you learn that we don’t need
to squeeze anything else into the backpack
when we have enough blood and freedom…
Source: UCRAINA [43:37] ‹ Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm ‹ Reader — WordPress.com
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