following the traffic signs
and heading north
where she lives; it’s way beyond the sight,
and where the road is under shades of trees
surrounding with colorful flowers, cheerful sound of birds,
butterflies and bees.

night falls into thick fog amasses
as winds caress pine branches
pacing about together we wander
and stop by a stream where the deer in the dither
I pause to gaze at her noble steps
and the long cascade of hair over her shoulder.

loving the sunlight at the end of the day
that looks like a band of yellow silk but dreary
at the horizon, just giving up the last ray
hand in hand we return, but reluctant to part
filled with passion, in dismay is my heart
by the aroma and her beauty of art.

into my ear, her voice sounds in quiet murmur
as the cold wind sneaks in even colder
gently mine reach her lips for a tender kiss
and my breath entirely frails into bliss
not knowing how long it lasts
over the hill, the moon has its full cast.

oh dear, it’s late into the night
let’s say good-bye to the dreamy flight
now the moon has reached its height
its enchantment inspires my pique
embracing her in my arms, I think it’s only a dream
afloating the waves in the love sea reach their peak.

***

through foliage, gusts of winds rustle, restlessly
as if to share with an upcoming great glee
before dawn a broad grin on her lips I could see
the day has not yet to come but its pink glory
by her side, I suddenly imagine that could be
someday we are to part our company.

I wish the night would be longer
and the time pause forever
to listen to the singing lovers’ praises from the flower
to see all clouds over moonlit to linger
and to hear the moon servant’s innermost ardor
that he bears it to the moon god how much he suffers.

she asks me to close my eyelids
and cover her shoulders with a blanket like kids
hiding her childish smile behind her hair rapids
rolling the curtain to allow spring glint landing on pillows
suddenly a squirrel hops to the top of a mallow
disturbing the sleeping crow.

looking at those sparkling sunrays
that go through the frame of the window
in life, meeting or parting has been destined
short or long, it’s only the life of a person
I love her, vastly, with all my heart
it’s as vast as the sky outside the dormer.

A Stanza of Farewell

The night closed in so rapidly
Pushing the hot and humid air
Birds chirping among the leafy
Resounded the whole area, everywhere

I rested on a hammock in the veranda
Reciting a new love poem stanza
All at once I regretted
Her vanished image
After several times peacefully dated
We treated as if we were in marriage
And if we parted we would suffer a lot
And the wound so hurtful like being shot

Night dews fall drop by drop
Landed on her hair cascade
In the distant, the moon began to blog
Its pale lights were darkened by mist shade
She and I submerged in the vast space
Speechless, our hearts emphatically played
All at once, she came to a halt abruptly
Turning around, she gazed at me
Her eyes stained with tears, she spoke softly
And tried to give a sweet smile that could be
“oh dear, I love you from my innermost
I wondered when you would see me again?”
The sky is full of stars
I could see deep in her eyes
“your words filled my heart with scars
being afar is synonymous with misery
I’ll come back when the first leaf in autumn falls
And together we’ll build our castle of honey”

Her shoulders thrilled as she bawled
Her tears damped my shoulders
The waning moon passed over the hillside
The night being short, we went home together
She ambled with me by her side
Under the pine vista that, in the wind, whisper

That final night was hard to lull to sleep
As I thought of the next day
She leaned against my shoulder to weep
Muttering her sadness that brought in dismay
In concert with the sobbing of the cricket
All pounded into injury caused by our splitting way

Still Awaiting for Spring

A promise for Spring
Is hard to let go
Now comes the season of chilling
I always miss her; I’m ready to show
Her images on my mind recurring
Long nights make me consult my pillow
I do not even care about the daily routine
Life is as miserable as I often think
Water under bridge running as it’s been
get haunted as our love is on the shrink
Like her, I am on my own loneliness
Turning my thought toward her in a brink

Autumn being over, winter comes
Spring eagerly rushes in
I yearn for seeing her to express heartfelt terms
Which fully bare all my feelin’
With the hope our grief would be clear
By the creek, the pale moon shinnin’
Side-by-side, we sing to cheer
And sing our love’s praises
By the brook, we express our dear
With burning kisses witnessed by lucent rays
We run around without life being near
Time or day – shine or rain – are just the plays

The Calls of Love

I suddenly turned my thought
Toward the girl in the North
For a long time, for her I’ve sought
All around me seem sad; flowers come forth
It’s amid Springtime
But the scene bears a look of far north
My heart sink with the rhyme
Of the shift between day and night
Her beloved figure possesses brain of mine
With fragments of innocent sight
I love her – a girl at a distant burgh
Where cold path is covered with lone moon

Whoever visits the Xiang River (*)
Please let her know of my spoon
That’s especially been saved for her
I promise to come back during the monsoon
I will return bringing great pleasure
And will keep our love garden its noon

Overnight, I can’t lull me to sleep
Longing for the new season to slip
And the pale moon to keep
The cricket cries make the night deserted
The scent of her hair slightly wafts the air
As sweet as the call of love indeed

Visiting the Girl in the NorthOn Valentine Day

Valentine season
I come back North
Spring sun reflects its illumination
Flowers and leaves dance back and forth
Above, white clouds float to the horizon
Butterflies flirt with flowers o’er a resort

Her lips and eyes incite my fool play
That will cost her a big surprise
(for I’ve never said I would come to see her)
Yesterday, I sent her a nosegay
With the wish happy Valentine prize
a note: “I won’t be able to make it.”
On the phone, I could hear bitter cries
Blaming my absence makes all flowers wilted

At the door, she gives me a crazy gape
Then bursts into tears and grabbed hard on me
I bend down and lip my tear-stained babe
Whose hair begins showing some white frizzes

The chimes in the back yard resound
(Whose sounds are like the church bell tolling after The Mass)
I gently place on her lips that open partly
Things now are like spring roses come around
looks up curiously
Tears run down her cheeks
My soul drowns in her inquiry
The sun shines at its peak
The wind rustles through pine trees
As chests close in and two weepies
For words are now no needy

Pillowing her head with my shoulder
She begins to spill her guts
Making known to the world as a loner
Keeping breath to normal without disrupt
Counseling the heart to beat at regular
Giving chance to bed warmer to lessen shiver
She breathes her words into my ear
“I’m afraid the thick and thin of our creature
Our plight of being apart haunts me with great fear”

Birds tweeting outside the window
Wakes me up, but I know not the time
She hides the clock, not wanting to let me know
Instead, she pillows her hear with my chest
And continues her Arabian Nights tale
With the hope the night would do its best
And Valentine’s Day turns the scale
I favor her inmost soul of being alone
By herself in pine woods feeling so frail.

Valentine 2013

Home Coming

As heart calls for, I return to the northern part
Wind blows rather hard during the tweener
I think of someone waiting for a shared heart
The longer I go the more agitated I become
I also visualize a thin glimpse standing the entrance
Lending its beauty by two beds of yellow mums
I go north carrying along a mass of crazy love
That will be buried by the side of a bourne

Slowly we pace to the woods of maple grove
In the afternoon in the late summertime
We hear somewhere, in the wind, of sighing clove
The birds, disturbed by our presence, soar up high
My heart thumping at seeing a familiar figure
Alone, sad-looking, at the brook, she is standing by

She turns around and gazes at the newcomer
Tears run down her cheeks as she knows it’s me
Yes, I have come back to meet her
And replenish her loneliness she suffers empty
Her physique squarely fits within my arms
And I could feel her heart beats so oddly
In my eyes, she seems to be speechless
For my arms enclose her physique harder
What could be heard is just the wind’s confess
Even the afternoon sun turns its back, shyer
As she looks up, her tear-stained eyes unrest
I solemnly dry them up with a loving kisser

Her warmth mingles with mine in harmony
As two of us mix with the natural reality
She and I are swimming in the sea of fairy
We feel like we are in the land of bliss
Repeating an old relic of our love story
Whose scheme reflects kinds of sweet memory

Countless stars are twinkling in the sky
Waves of love are rushing in the heart madly
I ask her: how much armour I owe you, sweetie pie
For we always think of each other intensely
The longer we part the more we suffer misery
And time is so cruel; it never waits for any doxie

Looks like it is densely foggy outside
And cold air sneaks into the body
I gently steal a kiss on her eye
And press my heart on hers, thrillingly
She smiles with eyes closing for a big moment
Her lips tremble, whispering loving utterance
I know not if I exist at present
Nor did I live sometime in the past
For she gets drunk in the bliss of content
And I submerge in lovesick outlast
May it be our pre-destined in heart consent
Then now the boat has docked steadfast

She gets overwhelmed with furor
Her heart pounds wildly with excitement
That urges her to leave a hickey on my shoulder
Her giggles enhanced by a whirl of her hair fragrance
She snugs her head down on my chest
For a while, we sense that the time ceases to exist

 
Autumn Dream – A Visit to North

The express train cruises through the night
Its route covers all land features
Its whistle mingles in the space without light
Even before pulling in a terminal
Inside my compartment, I felt hot in my eye
For words of love can’t be good at all

Leaving the city, I catch a stream cruiser
It cruises smoothly in a late autumn day
My home village is by the shore of the Đuống River
Embraced by bamboo hedges and rows of arecas
In the old days, I joined the service
Now I come home, welcome by dear applause

She and I – only two of us – on the bikes
Cycling along the banks of many paddies
We ride along worn path of dirt and laterites
We stop by some empty houses of prayers
She kneels down by me to pray for us both
Her long cascade hangs about her shoulders

Late autumn wind blows hard around trees
As if it tries to rip off all yellow leaves
She strolls as she fears something to freeze
She fears that her senseless wooden shoes
Will hurt the fallen banyan leaves on the ground
While the clouds above admire her eyes in woe
She feels pleased with the northern wuther
The autumn air flirts with her rosy cheeks
As she murmurs leaning against my shoulder
Despite the fog palling over her disheveled hair
And darkness begins to close in diffused light
Hand-in-hand, we leisurely stroll home, in cool air

Bài thơ này được đăng vào ngày Monday, January 25th, 2021 trong mục Poetry - English versions.