.LOVE LIFTED ME / poem by THE PHONG

                                 1. LOVE LIFTED ME
                                 poems by THE PHONG
                            translated by ĐÀM XUÂN CẬN.


                   Trying to hurry my lingering sadness
                           in the softness of a woman 's body
                    My heart is bloodless
                           so I take a hot bath
                    Casting a glance at the misty vale
                            I dream of  European looking women
                    In my heart of hearts
                            what I need is only a soft body


                     Soldiers in combat garb are moving outside
                     The people try to find out
                            about this wretched country
                             through the B.B.C.
                      Lying on the white sheet my eyes stare at the stone walls
                      I hear nothing
                             nothing at all around me
                      A murse in white is walking to and fro
                      Puzzled
                             I take her as a wandering ghost
                      There is simply no end to my misery !
                      The radio music is torturing me
                      I scream for help until it is turned off.

                       Now I know a woman is what I long for
                       As weet human voice,
                                a happy moment in life.

                        Dalat, October, 1963 

                                   2.  OUR FATHERLAND MUST GO.!

                        Our country is no longer one and the same
                        ( A fish cut in two must be still trembling for a while)
                       On sunny days there are sidewalk
                              vendors trying to sell flags at give away prices
                        I turn away
                               to avoid the sight of foreigners taking pictures
                               of streets scenes
                        Men limping
                               women welling wares
                                children begging
                        How about my friends,
                                the bourgeois dressed smartly in European clothes
                        Nothing is lacking for those who are gracious and beautiful
                        But they want to sell out our fatherland mocking at our sorrows
                        They want to sell out
                                our fatherland along with the flags and you name what
                        Everything for sale,
                                 evrything must go
                        And they fly abroad,
                                 leaving us behind
                         And what we can do
                                 when they are already in the air ?

                          Oh !
                         They are nevr to be trusted,
                                   the good friends of the foreigners

                          Not one of them have ever cared for us...
                          Let the flag vendors do something worthwhile
                          Let they bring water
                                    when we walk barfoot the sun is hot
                          Sure they are reliable,
                                    they will not sell our fatherland
                           Sure they will not flee
                                    our country now in its hour of need and in the future

                            Grief has badly shaken all  of us, don't you see
                            ( I start wrting about my fate of our land ).
                                []
                            Saigon, October, 1963
                            THE PHONG. 

                          ( from   ' Asian Morning Western Music' 
                             poems by The Phong)
                            First published by Dai Nam Van Hien Books'
                           Saigon 1974 - This Edition , Jan.2012 .Ho Chi Minh City)