loneliness, day after day + ... by mai trung tĩnh -- trans. by dam xuan can ( prose poems/ published by dai nam van hien books, australia 2014)

prose poems by mai trung tĩnh - 6-
dai nam van hien books, australia 2014


                       prose poems by mai trung tĩnh
                                                translated by dam xuan can

                                                    prose poems by mai trung tĩnh
                                                                          dai nam van hien books, australia  2014




                                           LONELINESS, DAY AFTER DAY


I learn with grief you have not thought of me even once.  You keep alone your silence as time flits past and causes me so many sorrows.  I am a victim of mockery day and night. Now I know I am the one to have the tree of griev grow no matter how many hopes I cherish every morning.  My last friend in life are a wild tree branch and poisonous fruit. Even the deer and lowly plants leave me anguished like the tattered soul of the forest. Every cell of the scented pollen -- your hair of the olden times -- turns a messenger bird which breathes life to this universe.  But life is harsh and blind enough to scare the bird away.  It cries for help then flies away and my green spring is no more.

Heavy on my shoulder is the weariness of a bust condemned to the vain labour of coun-
ting cataclysmic changes ages ago.  At a desperate moment, I broke away to join a party of South Pole explorers.

I must leave you in search of a new world.  I will confine myself in the most secluded area with my utter loneliness.  Among the leaves bathed in bliss I wake up with grass sprouting from my body and think they are ominous signs of my lot.  Frightened I find a way out but all exists are blocked and threatening beasts are let loose, showing their teeth.  Only the wind is free so I ask it for help.  But I slump into reality again, sweating profusely. Wounded, the winged space falls down to ask for a healing hand.  No one is at hand so I must give care. I watch my own feeble breathing, lost in the illusion of receiving gifts from friends.  O my love, my sacred angel!  I am like a smouldering fire following its bright burning.  Talke away the last heat with your sweet hand, just as a rain covers the shot sun.  


                                           WHEN NIGHT FADES


1
Banks of clouds hasten to hide the blue sky like huge pieces of black wood.  Evening I wake up.  In the flickering light I glide as a germ like incurable sorrow.  The sun train 
temporarily ceases to spit out its sparkles of anger.  I see myself as a merchant who needs to metamorphose due to the unrelentless watch of days and nights.


2
I carry within myself the seeds of my own disintegration.  The evening train fails to alleviate my chagrin.  I want to penetrate the depths of my weary soul.  Drop after drop of water falls monotonously on the deserted step like the ticks of the clock of Hell, eternal reminder of my danned lot.  I sit in silence watching sorrow grow. then paddle myself out of darkness with my two ear like hands.  I raised my hand in exasperation.  It hits the surrounding fence and my heart is sinking.


3
My heart is an empty vase.  I roam over many places tp pluck flowers tp put in it.  They wither.


4
I live as a stranger no one can meet.  People see me without the faintest recognition.  I reamin a shape of darkness which propels itself forward indefinetely.  I arm myself with the rhythmic breath of the microbes swimming in my brain.  I take the traces left by my soul as vestiges of defeat.  Destiny rages in silence and lies heavy on thge shoulder of the victim which I am.  I pretend to be an unconcerned fellow, ignoring the hammer blows of the judge.


5
Fearing the rising sun will prise out my secrets I tuen into a nightjar.  Over a sleepy scene I slid out as a shadow to have a few more minutes of rapture.  With acute pain I realise it will not be long before I must return to my abode. and the wicked light begins toying with each tree on my way back.  Shaken badly, I know I have to expose more of myself with each passing day.


                                               DELIVRANCE 


I have behind all I have on me before I depart.  Because life is a limitless race course without a better God as the only spectator who enjoys the shabby scene of horses struggling with each other to get out.  We set out for an indefinite race until the end of the time, on a road infested with holes, barbed wire rolls, misery laden trees and leaves and flowers are but a myriad of symbols of sorrow.  The pebbles and stones are balls of fire to burn the feet of runners.  I have run so I have blisters on my feet.

With each passing day I know I am only a creature thrown in this monstrous world.  One morning I frighteningly set out to fetch the comrades.  But I meet no one so I become an almighty god.  Accordingly I decide on my endless journey lest I stop to see the world as a forest full of mysterious fruits I must refuse.  

mai trung tĩnh

               
                                                                                    (to be continued)  

about the painter artist DINH CUONG / phan anh dũng (www. cothommagazine/ USA)

about the painter artist dinh cuong
(www. cothommagazine)

                                                  đinh cường
                                                   written by phan anh dũng

                            đinh cường (left) [i.e đinh văn cường 1939-  virginia 2016]
  
 "Art is a distinctive but  rare-to- find form of life.  I have painted in all different situations, locations without realizing why.  There are times when I almost felt desperate and there are also times when I ahd a sense of being redeemed.  And I continue to paint and to mediate."   - ĐINH CƯỜNG -


Born in 1939 in Thu dau mot, Vietnam.  Lived in Huê, Dalat and Saigon until 1969.  Currently residing in Burke, Virginia, USA.

EDUCATION

1964 National of Fine Arts, Siagon.
1959- 1963 Huê Institute of Fine Arts.
1951- 1957 Lycée Pétrus Trương vĩnh Ký, Saigon, Vietnam.

TEACHING

1967- 1975 Huê Institute of Fine Arts
1963- 1967 Đồng Khánh High School, Huê, Vietnam.

ONE-MAN EXHIBITIONS:

2006 Lạc Việt Gallery, Arlington, Virginia.
1005 Viêt Art Gallery, Houston, Texas.
2000 Sprinfield Art Association, Chicago, Illinois.
1999 Cafe Montmartre, Reston, Virginia.
1999 Cafe Starbucks, Burke, Virginia.
1998 BảoKha Gallery, McLean, Virginia.
1997 Farmers Branch, Dallas, Texas.
1996 BátTràngGallery, Towson, Maryland.
1995 ĐấtĐỏ Gallery, McLean, Virginia.
1995 3511 Bellefontaine Street, Houston, Texas.
1994 Metro Gallery, George Mason University, Virginia.
1991 Le Jardin du Boise, Montreal, Canada.
1989 Windy Hall. McLean, Virginia.
1975 French Institute, Siagon, Vietnam.
1974 Cultural Center Đa nẵng, Vietnam.
1974 Unibersiy of Nha trang, Vietnam.
1973 Cultural Center , Pleiku, Vietnam.
1972 French Institute, Siagon, Vietnam.
1971 Sports Circle, Huê, Vietnam.
1967 French Alliance, Saigon, Vietnam.
1967 Information Hall, Huê, Vietnam.
1965 French Alliance, Dalat, Vietnam.
1965 French Cultural Center, Đà nẵng, Vietnam.
1965 Information Hall, Huê, Vietnam.


GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

2005 Danchi Art Gallery, California
2002 Two-men Show with Bửi Chí, Tự do Gallert, Saigon Vietnam.
2001 Vĩnh Lợi Gallery, Saigon, Vietnam.
2000 The Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, Virginia. 2000 The Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, Virginia
2000 Three-men Show with Trịnh công Sơn and Bửu Chí, Tư do Gallery, Saigon, Vietnam.
1999 Pilgrimage: Twelve Journeys to Refugee, Ellipse Arts Center, Arlington, Virginia.
1999 Perpective Gallery at Virginia Tech, Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia.
1997 20 Years of Vietnamese Art in America, Michigan University.
1996 Asian- American Art Exhibit, The Executive Office Building Auditorium, Rockville, Maryland,
1995: An Ocean Apart, Ellipse Art Center, Arlington, Virgini --, Organized by the Smithsonian Institute.
1995 Vietnamese Artists - 20 years in Exile, Ryals Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida.
1992 Têt Art Show, Century art Gallery, Westminster, California.
1989 Czechoslovokian Cultural Center, Saigon, with Đỗ quang Em and Trịnh công Sơn.
1974 American- Vietnamese Association, Huê, with Dương đình Sáng.
1974: University of Huê, with Võ Đình.
1973 Referral Center, Đà nẵng, with Vĩnh Phối and Tôn thất Văn.
1970 French Institute, Saigon, with Nguyễn Khai.
1965 Information Hall, Saigon, with Tôn nữ Kim Phượng and Trịnh Cung.
1965 Information Hall, Huê, with Lê vănTtài.

WORKS SHOWN AT:

1974 Southeast Asia Art Exhibition, Singapore
1966 New Delhi, India
1967/ 1969 The Sao Paulo Biennal
1966 The Tokyo Biennal
1964 The Tunis Biennal
1963 The Paris Biennal
1962 The International Art Exhibition, Saigon, Vietnam.

AWARDS:

1963: Silver Medal, Spring Exhibits, Saigon, Vietnam.
1962 Sliver Medal Spring Exhibits, Saigon, Vietnam.
1962 Prize awarded by the Embassy of [Free] China in Vietnam.


oil paintings by dinh cường

                                                                                               (www. cothommagazine)

breaking rocks on côn sơn by phan chu trinh (we promise one another/ washington d.c. 1971)

breaking rocks on côn sơn, a poem by phan chu trinh 
(we promise one another / washington d.c. 1971)


                               breaking rocks on côn sơn
                                                          by phan chu trinh

                                                             p. 97   WE PROMISE ONE ANOTHER


                      Phan chu Trinh was a key figure in Vietnamese anti-colonial struggles at the turn
                      of the century.  We attempted to liberate from the feudalism of the Mandarin system
                      and prepare the way for a new nationalism.  Heavily influenced by European En-
                      lightenment thinking, be argued against a violent confrontation with France and was
                      hopeful that an acceptable agreement could be worked out with France without blood-
                      shet.  Nevertheless, he waa accused of inciting rebellion and sent to the prison island
                      of Côn sơn in 1908, where he remained until 1911.  Although due to his notority he 
                      received some privileges while at Côn sơn, he had to break rocks for building roads
                      with all the prisoners.  He also supposedly ruffled French authorities by refusing to                                                                        talk to the French prison director unless he was invited to sit down. * 
                       ---
                             *    Information on Phan chu Trinh was taken from Vietnamese Anti-Colonialism by 
                                  David  G. Marr, Univeristy of California Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1971. 
                                          (DON LUCE' s note)


                       As a man standing upright on Côn sơn,
           I can bring moutains crashing down in pieces.
           With my hammer I shatter heap after heap,
           All my strength producing hundreds more stones,
           Day in, day out I make light of my exhausted body,
           In rain or shines my heart never fails.
           In temporary setback, those who mend the sky
           Do not let minor things get them down!

                              PHAN CHU TRINH

                                   ----
                         ( Published by The Indochina Moblie Education Project  Washington  D.C.)
                         ( Copryright (C) : 1971 /  Don Luce -- John C. Schafer -- Jacquelyn Chagnon.)
    

TRÂN THIÊN HIÊP' S POEMS / translated by THIÊU KHANH ( art2all.net)

trân thiên hiệp' s poems
(art2all.net)


                             trần thiện hiệp' s poems

                        
                                                          trân thiên hiêp (left)  [1935-     ] +  the phong 

                                                                   


                       
                                      SAIGON,  THE FALL HAS  GONE



                                                                   Looking for
                                          the Fall in Saigon
                         Without falling leaves, old streets seem alien

                                                  In my
                                      daylight sleepingwalking
                 A sudden rain brings a red mud puddle in to being

                                                 Raising
                              five fingers as supposed
                To the rain on Duy Tân Street your hair was once exposed

                                          There are no more
                                   those lovely footsteps so far 
                     Thu Sương - Thu Thủy - Thu Vân - Thu Hà

                                                 Saigon
                                        The Fall has gone
              No Fall encountered, people become strangers thereon



                                     ENLIGHTENMENT
  
                                         Living in exile
                                     for twenty five years
                 On returning to my motherland mindfuness appears

                                             The country
                                     once divided by hatred
                  When you are enlightened everything in sublimated

                                           A hundred years
                                             are like ksatna
               As the country has changed a dynasty is like a chimera

                                               Let' s enjoy
                                     some goof wine then
                  An laugh away all those changes again and again



                LIFE SEEN FROM A HIGH MOUNTAIN

                                                Life,
                                    in a like a revolving lantern,
                     where one is ephemeral in the Fate' s unconcern
                                    Almost over Asia and Europe
                                              I' ve been to
                      It' s so sorowful to recollect the past hitherto

                                                Sometimes
                                     It' s like a necessary evil
                                       One would be whirling
                                   in one' s destiny all bareful
                   Even one has learned what impermanence could mean
                   Being lost in the night of life could be foreseen

                                        In the world of humans
                                    the sun and the moon pass by
                   Emptying my glass I laugh being home and dry
                   In the ruthless changes of the Earth and Heavens
                           I keep moving on despite their violence

                   TRANSLATED BY THIÊU KHANH

                                                                                          
                                                                               (art2all.net)

                        

a sunday morning, a poem by han nguyên ( art2all.net)

a sunday morning by han nguyên
(art2all.net (usa)


         a sunday morning
     by han nguyên

       
           han nguyên    i.e nguyễn tâm hàn        ]


      Sunday is here but the sky is not sunny
      Wake up to enjoy life anyway, my sweet honey
      There' s a bird out there drinking dews
      On the leaf fluttering in the breeze

     
       A thin, gary layer of clouds ... just have a no fear
       When the sun is high up ... sunshine will appear
       Right away, like a miracle to light up the sky
       The universe again ... glory so we can cheer.

        HAN NGUYEN
            JAN., 10, 2016



         sáng chủ nhật

         Dậy đi em
         sáng chủ nhật dù trời không nắng
         cứ dậy đi
         người yêu hỡi ... dậy đi
         có con chim uống sương sớm kia kìa
         trên cành lá lung linh trong gió nhẹ
         chỉ màn mây xám mỏng ...
                                      đừng ngại gì em nhé.


         Khi mặt trời lên cao
         ánh sáng sẽ chan hòa
         cả bầu trời vẻ rực rỡ bao la
         sẽ bừng dậy hiến đời niềm tươi sáng.

         HÀN NGUYỄN
             (Nguyễn tâm Hàn)
                     JAN., 10, 2016.

                                                           art2all.net

          
      

prayers for peace by thích nhất hạnh ( we promise one another / poems from an asian war (published by the indochina mobile education project / washington d.c., 1971)

we promise one another / poems ...

(WASHINGTON D.C. 1971)

                                  THICH NHAT HANH

                           PRAYERS FOR PEACES

                                                     Remember , brother,

                                                                                     remember,

                                                                                     Man is not our enemy.

Thích Nhất Hạnh is a Buddhist monk who has made several trips to the United States and Europe to help Westerners better understand Buddhism and the cultural and historical background to the present conflict in his country.  He is also a scholar and poet.  Thích Nhất Hạnh is one of the spiritiual leaders of what some people call the "Third Force" in Việtnam, a loose coalition of religious leaders, students, and Vietnamese from all walks of life, striving to create a Việtnam free of boith Communist and American domination.

                                                          thích nhất hạnh    [i.e. nguyễn xuân bảo 1926-     ]

                                                                  p. 114   WE PROMISE ONE ANOTHER

                                                                              CRIMSON SILK
                                                             The Vietnamese say: " As the crimson silk
                                                                                covers the mirror (on the altar of ancestors),
                                                                                children of the same fatherland must love
                                                                                one another."

                                                   night of prayer

                                         In that moment  

                                         wind was still  

                                         birds silent 

                                         seven times Earth shook

                                         as Immortality traversed 

                                         the stream of Birth- and- Death 

                                         The Hand on the wheel 

                                         in the mudra of Peace 

                                         bloomed like a flower in the night

                                        That Moment 

                                        the flower of Immortality opened

                                        in the garden of Birth- and- Death

                                        the Enlightened smile:  

                                        word ans symbol   

                                        He came   

                                        to learn Man' s  language.

                                        That night in Tusita Heaven 

                                        doves looked down 

                                        saw Earth, my homeland, brighter than a star. 

                                        While galaxies inclined, worhipping

                                        till East turned rose

                                        and the Lumbini gardens became a solft cradle

                                        welcoming Buddha,  newly born.

                                        Tonight,  tonight  

                                         on Earth,  my homeland,

                                         men look up 

                                         their tear- blind  eyes turn towards Tusita Heaven.

                                         The scraems,  the cries of pain are everywhere,

                                         As Mara' shand bears down:

                                         Violence,  Hate.

                                         In darkness Earth,  my homeland thirsts,

                                         yearns for the miraculous event 

                                         when Eternity parts its curtains

                                         shadows dissolve 

                                         and the Long Hoa * comes to my land

                                         when the sound of Seing echoes again 

                                         is the singing of a child.

                                          ---

                                           * The Buddhst Messiah

                                          Tonight,  the moon,  the stars,  bear witness:

                                          let my homeland, let Earth pray,  

                                          For Việtnam

                                          Her deaths and fires 

                                          grief and blood  -- 

                                          that Việtnam will rise and from her sufferings

                                          become that new soft cradle

                                          for the Buddha- to- Come,

                                          Let Earth,  my country, pray 

                                          Once more the flower blooms.   

                                           Tonight we hope 

                                           our agony bears fruit 

                                           that Birth- and- Death will cross

                                           the stream of Being  

                                           and Love' s spring bathe ten thousand hearts,

                                           that Man will learn the language of the Inexpressible,

                                          The prattle of a child 

                                           will teach the law. 

                                        recommendations

                                           Promise me this day

                                           promise me now

                                           while the sun is overhead 

                                           exactly at the Zenith,

                                           promise me .

                                            Even as they strike you down

                                            with a mountain of hate and violence,

                                            even as they step on your life and crush it

                                            like a worm,

                                            even at they dissember,  disembowel  you,

                                            remember, brother, 

                                            remmeber,

                                            man is not our enemy.

                                            Just your pity, 

                                            just you hate 

                                            are invincible, limitless,  uncondiotional,

                                            Hatred will never let you face 

                                            the beast in man ,

                                            And one day 

                                            when you face this beast alone, 

                                            your courage intact, your eyes kind, 

                                            untroubled 

                                            (even as no one sees them) ,

                                            out of your smile 

                                            will bloom a flower

                                            and those who love you

                                            will behold you  

                                            across ten thousand worlds of birth and dying .

                                             Alone again 

                                             I' ll go on with head bent

                                             but knowing the immortality of love.

                                             And on the long, rough road

                                             both sun and moon will shine,

                                             lightening my steps.

    

                                                       thích nhất hạnh

                                                                                        (p. 114 - 119    WE PROMISE ONE ANOTHER)