THE HOLLOW DAYS
Day 5: The most beautiful day

There is an evening when I don’t want to do anything, to think / talk about anything
To let
Hundred rivers nourishing my innocent years
Overflow my memory

To let
Thousand lines of poetry learned by heart before my poetry-making days
Overwhelm my open soul

Work is piling up
The short-story half-read, the letter half-written
Life is in rush on the outside

The girl was carrying water down the hill, she stopped, and lingered for a long time
then walked leisurely to the village
What is she doing now/where – who knows?

The evening is going out

Wait not for a certain figure
Suddenly fill up your emptiness

Ten thousand dragonflies of childhood enlightening the room.

Translated by Nguyen Tien Van