- Da Màu Magazine - https://damau.org/en -

By the Sea

Posted By Thường Quán On In Translations,Sáng Tác,Thơ,From Vietnamese | No Comments

 

 

 

On rock surfaces
on tree barks
the sun illuminates
specks of dust
grains of sand
and hilltops
war had taken away parts
of the portrait

squintting eyes
hidden targets
a patch of suburbia
the immense sky touching the vast open sea
stretches to the blur marking the boundary
that is caught in the sand
as dead straight as Từ Hải

It may be just this much of a non-event
if one could not spot the wiggling
behind
in a small hemp sack
seemingly an animal
writhing to search for air
to breathe

a small dog (perhaps)
a coarse layer of fibers
the driver
in a short-sleeved shirt
speeding mad like there is
no tomorrow
crackling his fingers
shoulders jerking now and then
in a dead-end street

Paul Valéry – here
also
by the sea
it’s noon
the foaming swells, the scattered sands
and even more so
like after the celebration of Tết
ways too much
people had burned ways too much
incense

 

 

 

.

Articles by Thường Quán