lights begin to agitate
around the house without an entry
voices begin to threaten
tomorrow won’t be kind
time’s no longer unperturbed
things are taking human forms.
feet begin to become unseen
so do eyes and mouths
the womb does not refuse
to swallow all
god’s halo
has withered upon his burial
do not turn against yourself
the beast is watching you
behind and in front.
this place
is protected inside a box
with preserving chemicals
he is crazy with culture
and she
obeys the air of this place
an anaesthetised air
in this place
body is a word which brings up two things
sex and suffering
across nations.
each day
your feet are roads
wearing straight down into death
down there
one wishes everything is fine.
they quarrel noisily after feasts
they fight
they curse
everybody has been able to read books
everybody has been able to go to school
everybody knows the numbers
those quota.
everybody dreams of enjoying
equally
they quarrel noisily while drunk
in their dream they sputter
they shackle their hands
in their dream
they gag each other’s mouth
in their dream
they try to escape from wishes
like escaping a storm
they quarrel noisily in the sounds of a rain
in the storm
in the ocean waves
they dream noisily
they sing noisily
noisily they make
the quacking of seagulls
the roaring of the ocean waves
the blue sky
they wish noisily
wishes that are hidden and gagged so carefully while dreaming
so as to be put into a grave and dropped down to the bottom of the earthen depth.
Translated from the Vietnamese originals “Ngày,” “Ở nơi đây,” and “Giấc mơ” first published on TienVe.org.