POEM OF HOPE / a poem by THIÊN LÝ

 we promise one another - poems from an asian  war-
selected, translated  by  don luce & ...

                            p o e m  b y   h o p e
                                   a poem by thiên lý

                 This poem   appeared in the  Saigon Student Union papers,  Sinh Viên ( Student) , and is generally considered to be the item in that newspaper most responsible for the five-year jail sentence of  hard labor for its editor, Nguyễn Trường Côn .
 D.L.
                                                                             
Those  of you who die for tomorrow,
Those who  still live for the future,
Don' t you feel the hopes of today
Rise up as the flag flies in the wind ?
Don't you hear your heart beat loudly,
The voice of hope mingled with the joyful songs of victory ?
Some days ago we could not sleep
Waiting for people to come to break the yoke of opression,
Anxiously waiting the day !
People
Rise up like the forest and mountains !
Friends from North to South,
We are together, we are one,
The storm will be over,
The day of home coming is near !
Fire will light our road,
Flags will meet at the glorious day,
Lạc Hồng  blood will make our land greener,
Rice and milk will become  plenty,
Heat the proud lullaby  of our white- haired mother :
"The day you left, you were fifteen ;
Now your feet are covered with scars
And your  dreams have become bright ."

Let us rise while the blaze brightens our land,
Let us rise, my brothers and sisters ,
Fulfill our dream -- our glorious country
Our flag of independence !

[]

THIÊN LÝ

( from  WE PROMISE ONE ANOTHER -  poems from an Asian war-
 selected , translated by Don Luce.   John C. Schafer & Jacquelyn Chagnon -
Published by The Indochina Mobile Education Project,  Washington,  D.C,   1974
p. 47 - 48 )