Translated from the Vietnamese by John Balaban
On A Portrait Of Two Beauties
How old are these two anyway?
Big and little sister, equally lovely.
In 100 years, smooth as two sheets of paper.
In 1,000 years, they still will glow like springtime.
Will the plum tree ever know the wind and moon?
Will reed and willow accept their dull fates?
Why not portray the other pleasures? Blame
the artist, gifted, but a bit dim about love.
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Country Scene
The waterfall plunges in mist.
Who can describe this desolate scene:
the long white river sliding through
the emerald shadows of the ancient canopy
…a shepherd’s horn echoing in the valley,
fishnets stretched to dry on sandy flats.
A bell is tolling, fading, fading
just like love. Only poetry lasts.
———————————————————————————————
Spring-Watching Pavilion
A gentle spring evening arrives
airily, unclouded by worldly dust.
Three times the bell tolls echoes like a wave.
We see heaven upside-down in sad puddles.
Love’s vast sea cannot be emptied.
and springs of grace flow easily everywhere.
Where is nirvana?
Nirvana us here, nine times out of ten.
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