
12 (six - eight) POEMS OF NGUYEN ANH NONG
1.
SCOOPED WATER OUT OF THE SEA
I scooped water out of the East sea with a bowl and caught a very tiny crab. Oh god! My fate was poor, wasn't it?
I grew sugar-canes and they died, I raised a cat and it's gone, I took care of custard-apples and I failed, I've raised a pig for over ten years and I couldn't sell it.
When would the wood become the aquilaria? When would a worm get out of a cocoon and give its silk?
I kept being dazed for the whole day, kept going out and coming in alone.
Then the neighbor felt pity, asking me to go up to the waterfalls, to go down to the whirl-pool, to pick the flowers with her.
First, I agreed to go with her because I respected her, then I fell in love with her, with a house in the moon-light. She loved me and preferred my love to money, She determined to leave her village, following me.
I didn't need gold or silver, just would like to see her smile, that was all! Then we became a husband and a wife, then a father and a mother, then a grandpa and a grandma.
From that day on, green forests and red mountains were our house, plains were our fields, seas were our ponds. The life was changing from square to round, when were we clever and understood that, honey?
15.10.1998

2
THE WORLD OF AUTUMN
I
After her husband had died, she took care of the children alone, working very hard therefore her youth was gone.
* The life of one hundred years always changes, people tried to make a living and everything was ok. *
She used to have a family, then she had nothing, her life was bitter because her destiny was unlucky.
* From the early morning to the late evening, she was in and out alone, didn't care for the happiness in sweet homes of others'.
* There she sat, remembering the old story in which there was a bird singing to fool... somebody!
* My sister had a very unlucky fate, she looked like a boat sailing in the strong current.
II
I went back home on the anniversary of my brother's death,
she sat there, praying with the endlessness... -"My sis!" - I called. "A di the Buddha!" - she answered, dazedly, when she saw a familiar image.
That was it, that was her belief, the world of human-beings, the world of Buddha, I didn't know which one to rely on? The world of heaven, the world of earth were pure and noble, I knelt down to bow the world of... thousands of autum!
13/10/1998
 3
IN THE MOONLIGHT
(to the poet Be Thanh Long)
After many years, I have nothing left but half of a small kitchen and a tring of poems.
There's moonlight in front of the verandah, and I hear the sound of geese on high, which tell me about the life of a man.
The street market is red, black and noisy, I don't care about they buy and sell and change their mind, I just peacefully keep on looking for Love or the World of Nothingness.
I wish my heart could be mended, and I could have a friend as my companion.
"Where is the plank-bed which needs nailing?
Let me fix it and it will be as good as new!"
Tonight the moon is extremely bright, I raise a cup of brandy and smile at... my self.
Cao Bang, 12-1991
4
NO TITTLE (I write this poem from the inspiration after reading "I PLAY AN UNEXPECTED GAME", by Van Cong Hung)
"You're very tender, very gentle, but I look like a sea-bear suddenly came into the heaven" (1)
Just then the golden moon is shaken, all thing overflows, all earth and sky sound loud, the mid-night moon bursts out laugh so much that it can shake the world of human!
Oh god, then we've been making everything flooded with strong gusts and pouring rains for some days!
We also make the pass and the mountain restless, make the river wind fast, make the hill go up and down. We quietly listen to vetiver rising up, the country waking up, the pink dawn coming.
-Hey, look, a mina is flying cross the river, then the current crushes into a shadow of the moon from the distance.
2/7/2007
(1) by Van Cong Hung
5
SHE AND FLOWERS
She was a small, beautiful flower in her time of brilliance in her time of pride.
*
I wished she would be a flower forever, and the flower she would be beautiful forever.
* But why winds and rains kept coming, ripped the flower and tore my heart?
*
When she stood by the bridge, waiting, I saw the color of lovesickness covering all of her - the flower.
6
A DROP OF WATER (to my teacher Quan Phuong)
The clouds are flying? Yes, right! The clouds are flying! I badly give out my hand to get the whole sky.
It rains drops by drops then a piece of pretty sky falls down to my hand.
I look at the glistening drop, seeng the whole picture of the country.
- Oh dear, it's just a little drop of water but in which there's the source of winds and rains.
1988
(The 2 last sentences were printed in the book "A thousand of beautiful sentences of the poem", selected by the poet Nguyen Vu Tiem).
7
HEY, MY EYES!
Hey, my eyes! With who you fall in love in the morning and then I can't sleep for the whole long night?
When I'm near her, I keep quiet and don't say any words, but when I'm far from her, I'm restless, confused and anxious.
‘Cause she and I used to eat the same flacourtia, take a walk with each other in the bright moonlight, let our hearts beat at the fisrt time and give the passion for our first sweet, tender kiss.
Hey, my eyes! Who do you love? Who do you miss? And then I can't sleep for the whole long night?
1988
8
THE PURPLE RAIN
(Suddenly the sunset turns purple as winds and rains come and bring the color - N.A.N)
Yesterday afternoon, there was a shower, rain drops fell down with the purple color making my heart purple, too.
This morning, there are strong winds and heavy rains
I date her, she agrees but then I feel hesitated.
I don't know if she can understands, I'm hesitated for fear that my heart would be all wet.
I can't believe my heart is so purple that I dare not let the rains make it faded
Oh dear, I wish winds and rains would stop then I could bring the purple rain to her house!
9
FIRE AND FLOWERS
If you dare not to go far from home, your poem will be flat and emotionless. If your heart doesn't have fire inside, no way can you pick any roses to any one!
Cao Bang, 1988
10
IMAGINE ABOUT MY FRIEND IN TAY NGUYEN
"You're very talented!", I praised him. Yeah, he was an athlete that could carry two seeds of seasame!
Drums and gongs shook the mountains and the forests, friends from everywhere came and visited him in Tay Nguyen.
Then I heard the laughter from a group of beautiful girls who were dancing and singing.
I saw the scene of butterflies and bees flirting flowers, and I knew the boats would strand, the drews would sink in love.
Then, there was the tender sunlight of dawn, it made the image of the beautiful girl dazzling.
The sorrow and the happiness were shared everywhere, friends talked to friends, telling all of things inside their hearts.
5/7/2007
11
HE LOOKS LIKE A GENTLEMAN IN BAC LIEU
(to Vu Duc Quan)
He looks like a gentleman in Bac Lieu, and she's so pretty that people must love her, right?
Love is as fragile as the white cloud therefore all of his soul keeps staying there.
He hasn't poured wine to invite her yet, but as soon as has he taken her hand he forgets the day they have been far away.
Now he can make up for the months of sadness, the years of anxiousness, the hard time of heat and coldness when he was in the border areas. Now he can make up for fire and smoke in the battle,
he comes back home just when the lotuses are blooming.
Holding her in his arms, he thinks it's still a dream, Now he can make up for the times he slept with... her shadow.
9/11/2008
12
BAUHINIA FLOWERS
Why are you so white with the pure color - the top rank of the beauty and the fragrance?
I'm just a butterfly that is far from its home, I meet you the flower then I forget the way home!
What are you talking in January, in February? "The bauhinia flowers!", the frost's whisper to my listening.
Thach An, Cao Bang, 1989
Người dịch: Bích Nga
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