south vietnam the baby in the arms of the american nurse - poems by the phong - 3
south vietnam the baby in the arms
of the american nurse, poems by the phong-
dai nam van hien books, saigon 1970
WILL VIETNAM BECOME THE 51 STATE
OF AMERICA ? 3
by the phong
TRANSLATED BY ĐÀM XUÂN CẬN
I wonder
whether it is time
for our country to become the 51 st State of America ?
If this is the case
the families of dead soldiers
will be better cared for
When we awake in the morning
not killed by the enemy rockets
Any of us
your wife
my sweetheart
might still be killed
being ran over by military trucks
( The crime perpetrators are the GI's arrogant and stupid as gorilles )
There are
in Công Lý St. or any other big road in Saigon
Scored of fatal accidents
caused by their wanton recklessness
If our country becomes the 51st State
something will be done about it
As things stand now
the criminal GI driver
does not bother to stop
and he gets away with it
to his heart's content
I was myslelf a witness
that time people surrounded a GI
Prefectly calm
two hands on his lips
he screamed abuse
to the two victims
And old woman of about sixty vomiting blood
fainting
A teenage boy shaken with convulsions
his eyes popped out
collapsed on the gutter
My friend
if you see this
how can you bear it ?
The damned Gi stood there
threatening the Vietnamese policemen
I did not konw English
to tell him to shut up
The policemen
pointed a pistol at him
asked him to produce his papers
But he disarmed him
sneering at the people around
laughing
he got in his car
and drove off
Only after a distance
he threw back the pistol
in disgust
I turned my eyes away
hurt
angry
burning with indignation
That my people were new being killed off
by bombs and rockets and so-called traffic accidents
In the land of our fathers.
My friend look out and you will find reckless GI drivers
let loose on the roads
I wonder
what a Westerner has to say about this
Surely he will tell us to demand justice for the victims
and remind us of what happened
in occupied France in the Second World War
Those days the facist drivers also drove recklessly
killing Parisians
But the Frenchmen were united in their just idignation
They rushed to the road
Whenever a slaughter took place
Surrounded the criminal
Killed him with fists, knives and clubs ...
( One can only claim justice
if one has the guts to stand up and fight )
If the same Parisians were here
they would pity us
and teach us to hate
Do you know, my friend
the GI also drive like mad inside the Tân Sơn Nhất Airbase
As if they were engaged in a race against aircrafts
They caused many, many deaths
the victims were indifferently Vietnamese civilians
Every time
the bastard involved did not stop
to see what he had done
Even if an American MP was at hand
to carry out an investigation
Nothing would come out of it
I tell you abslolutely nothing ...
I wonder if our country became the 51 st State of America
I know you will not like the idea
I understand your feelings perfectly
But then we will enjoy come justice
we will receive aid and all sorts of things
I know you will tell me
about our 5000 year long history
I know you will tell me
the American way of life is nothing short of ghastly
Calm down my friend
don' t you know the war being waged in our country
is financed by American dollars
So is our own Presidential Election
this is the truth
pure et simple
So would you mind telling me
what you really want ?
We are so thoroughly ' Americanized '
our city dwellers will suffer terribly
If they are deprived of refrigerators, washing machines or even toasters ...
A Honda motorbike is a must for any boy and girl
Even our underpaid soldier has got a taste for American cigarettes
( Another reason is the price of a local cigarette pack is threefold now )
In only three years
our life has been ' revolutionized '
Even our basic diet
our culture itself
does not remain the same
Vietnmaese girls definitely like GI' s
because of their money
Miniskirted bar girls
could not care less for husbands and kids
These ' small ' incidents are reported daily in newspapers
I read of one soldier who brought his baby child to an American office
He wanted to look for his wife
following a tip of his neighbours
The child cried out
he felt so humiliated
but still got some hope
When the child waved to his mother
who stood up the balcony
embracing a GI
Undisturbed
she just turned away
walked inside
still holding the GI
With a voice not quite that of a human
he shouted to her
untill the guard chased him away
He looked up the sky was pitch dark
hope was gone
( He did not get a fair deal
To start with
his wife as pretty bad sort of a woman )
The tearful man
took the child home
broken completely
Lulling his child into sleep
he gently put a blanket on him
Kissing him
he looked at the little creature
for the last time
Scribbling a few words
Then she shot himself through the head
and died instantly
It was curfew time
the neighbours must wait untill the next morning
To report to the police what happened ...
On the table
was his last letter
addressed to friends and relatives :
" ... My wife deserted me
because I could not support her
Without her
I could not fulfill my duty to my son
I voluntarily pit an end to my life ... "
Obviously he was too weak a man
Verily none can blame him
Of course
weakness could not be the motive of the death of this Buddhist nun student
She burned herself
not because of personnal despair
she had none of it
She died
out of her love for her country and people
She died ofter writing three letters
one for her parents
one for the people of her faith
one for LBJ United States
Let us read some of her words "
'... Please read Vietnamese history
Please have pity on my people
Please have pity on the families of dead GI' s
We have been thrusted
into this dirty war
Countless will have to die
We must live by " borrowed slogans "
What honour can you claim
n this war without honour ?
What right can you claim to be here
in the name of friendship ?
We realise you want domination
through economic means
I choose death
appeal to you to stop all this
in the name of humanity
I choose death
to appeal to you
to stop the bombing of North and South Vietnam
to withdraw foreign troops
to give independence back to my country
I appeal to you
to help us to rebuild our country
ruined by your weapons
I die
in the cause of peace ... " *
It is too painful for us, the living
to scrutinise the words of a dead person
In fact
our country was caught between two contending forces :
the capitalists nad the communists
I cannot have any synmpathy for either
they are both equally oppressive
We are weak
we are enchained
and ruined
and plundered ...
Meanwhile
those who are to die
will die
Those who live
remain dumb and deaf
O revolutionaries
I want to spit on youe face
What 's the use of all these senseless killings
when the pioneers set put to explore the moon
O two-cent politicians
stop rubbing slogans into our ears
tell us the feets
War benefits industrry
war feeds on war
it seems Vietnam will be linked with
the US untill the end of time
Our nurse gives us
cans of milk
and bullets
to play with
Every family raises American chickens
to earn some extra money
Each egg can be sold at fifteen piasters
the old price of ten
( Vietnamese currency drops in value every day )
We meet say thank you
to war
so familiar yet so strange
so painful yet so good
It furnishes us with a hell of new jobs
Before the coming of the Americans
There was a man who earned his living as a butcher-cum-hired thug
Now his life is easier
he owns a car and he smoke cigars
( Every day he drives to mortuary to process American bodies )
He shaves their heads and disposes of their bowels.
At the rate of one thousand piasters per hour
The paper yesterday
wrote that the millionaire became mad
Wearing weird clothes of all colors
holding all sorts of flags
He cried
he shouted
for peace
Ironically
such a man need peace that badly
Another victim of war
s General Dương Văn Đức
well known for his tougthness
Dressed in civilian clothes
he walked Saigon streets
Screaming painfully
delivering speeches
boozing
He stopped the traffic at the middle of the road
urinated on the Assembly House of Representatives
Do you realise
how sad we have become ?
Tomorrow
will we have to elect a Governor ?
will Vietnam be wiped off the map ?
People only mention Saigon
and Hanoi then
O dear dead souls
you do not know lucky you are
You do not have to see all these painful things
all the wreaths and coffins being carried to the cemeteries
Our sadness
is longer than rivers bigger than the seas ...
Will Vietnam become the 51 st State ?
Will it be the bastion of Asian communism?
Will it be the same and one country again ?
Answer, damn you
prosperous America ?
Speak, damn you
mighty Russia and Red China . []
SAIGON OCT, 30 , 1968
poem by the phong
-------
* PHAN THỊ MAI , alias THICH NỮ NHẤT CHI MAI, a student at Faculty of Liberal Arts , VAN HẠNH University , burned hrself to the death on the 16 th of May, 1967, at TỪ NGHIÊM Pagoda, Saigon, South Vietnam.
from : SOUTH VIETNAM THE BABY IN THE ARMS OF THE AMERICAN NURSE,
poems by THE PHONG , Dai Nam Van Hien Books, Saigon 1970 - p. 47 - 57.
được đăng bởi khedo@outlook.com @ 16:47
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