poems from an Asian war - a poem by nguyễn văn biên

We promise one another - poems from an asian war -
DON LUCE  and ... selected, introduced ...

                                             THIRTY FOUR  YEARS
                                                   a poem by  Nguyễn  Văn  Biên

In 1936
My mother was a coolie
In the rubber plantation , Morning and evening
She swallowed hatred,
The lashes ribboned her back ;
She felt the pains of the nation ,
The managers,
The imperalist puppets ,
The people, workers, beaten ,
Night in the cold, windy plantations .
The workers dreamt the dream of escape ;
Once more second ,
Once more  soul departed .
Beside her friends, her heart hardened .

                      In 1945
                      The autumn of revolution ,
                      Chains were broken,
                      Bamboo spears
                      Protected my mother

In 1970
Among the cars of saigon
My mother' sback bends in pain
' Austerity ' *
The tax- chain on her shoulders .
With gnarled hands she works
Waiting for the day I will stand up
My people behind us  ;
I shall ask for food and clothing ,
The years of humiliation have gone ,
 I must peak my mind .

Yet I remain here .
Twice  a day
In while and blue school clothes  --
Color of hope
 My studies !
Nothing close to my life
But the bell ringing .
My friends are all poor
Forty students together  --
Our parents  are laborers .
Can we overlook injustice ?
We must strengthen our feet
To step on the tides of  Bạch Đằng  .
Our minds are red like fire
Burning on the Nhật Tảo hills ,
Shining with our pages of history .
Mother,
Our eyes shine ,
We promise one another
To meet again in victory .

   []

 poem by NGUYỄN VĂN BIÊN.

.--------------------
* An ' austerity' tax was passed  by the THIỆU regime in 1970,  causing prices to skyrocket.
   This greatly angered the population already suffering from runway inflation. 
    (  Don Luce's note ?  )
---------------------

from     WE PROMISE ONE ANOTHER- poems from an Asian war -
           DON LUCE, JOHN  C. SCHAFER & JACQUELYN CHAGNON
           selected, introduced .
         ( Published by The Indochia Mobile Education Project, Washington, D. C. , 1971).