we promise one another : poems from an asian war : a poem by hoàng minh nhân
we promise one another
poems from an asian war
don luce & ... selected, printed, usa, 1971
a dream which has withered
by hoàng minh nhân
OF THE SAME MOTHER
The Vietnamese forbid fracticide with a saying;
' Let them fight outsiders if they are smart and strong,
but roosters of the same mother must not battle each other .'
[ This poem is written for the chilfren of the future, for the children of the future, for the generation which after the wreckage ]
The day I grew up,
Near my father, near my mother,
Near my sister, near my brother,
I only knew how to plant mulberry trees,
And cultivate rice;
And then one day war by chance came
And tramples on my native village.
People in the name of the father land
People in the name of the man,
People in the name of freedom
People in the name of happiness,
Spy on each other, destroy each other.
My father went up into the mountains,
My mother waits and waits,
My brother reists the war,
My uncle is a nationalist;
People teach me how to kill, to cut off heads --
All in the names of love,
Of philanthropy, of compassion,
Fathers, mothers, wives, children, whole villages
Turn into strangers,
and becomes strangers,
And become enemies,
People teach me to bear grudges, to resent,
But I only want to be a husband,
A father, with a wife, with a young son
Who knows how to say the two words : Việt nam --
From Cao Bằng to the seas of Thailand,
But my dream is a small trifle,
Dim, uncertain, as the days pass.
hoàng minh nhân
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< We promise one another - poems from an asian war.
selected, translated, published by don luce + ... , usa 1971.
p. 77- 78 >
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