from the Vietnamese in Thơ Lê An Thế (2008)
I open a blank page I open a blank page
to expand my place of shelter
no night no day
no first haste no last fatigue
I open a blank page
nothing contains nothing
the page becomes me
bottomless
I
Open
A
Blank
Page
until I shred
my own shadow
I open a blank page
it still expands
As I strip words from my body
I am no different from a goose feather
smacking less of the human odor
when fingers turn into 10
10 turns into 20
cells turn into a form of liquid
but I covet a gas form
for an escape from my own body
as a soul
having nothing to hide
as a moment
having nothing to lose
as a body
having spent too much time in a bundle of clothes
when we concentrate
with 20 fingers
.