THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT

 

Since the beginning – the earth full of dust,
The forbidden fruit in Eden still on the tree –
Our first ancestors ventured to eat it. Gee,
Doting on Eve, Adam sinned after love to lust!

Temptations have lured us to banned dreams
Just as we need passions for spell in a lifetime,
Hunger for sensations, a heartwarming prime,
Thirst for reveries to fill the soul that beams.

The world is so ancient! Our life-style so trite!
Days are so stale! Living habits so out-dated!
Even our attachment has become antiquated!
Darling! Courting words have grown a bite!

Whether you change your clothes many a turn
Or always make yourself up, you still look old,
Although fall leaves have begun to turn gold,
Inviting the season, suggesting Spring return.

Even if my heart in metempsychosis succeeded
So that I could renew my love in renovation,
Our affection would reach pain as destination,
Being moss-grown, incapable of being weeded.

Sped by seductions for taboos we have craved
As we need passions through thick and thin:
Above our first ancestor and the original sin,
–Coiled round the branch, the serpent stayed!

 

          Vietnamese poem by KHANG LANG

          English translation by  THANH-THANH