SPRINGTIME LOVE WORDS
I
suddenly feel strangely nostalgic
Each
time the swallows soar overhead.
Looking
up I think it’s our native sky, above
Emerald
bamboos, golden rice widespread.
If
you get back there take my deep thought
To
the pretty river in the full moonlight,
The
green reeds under the spring sun,
Each
noisy wave stirring the sea at night.
The
looming mountainsides at dusk,
The
dying beams, the glimmers bland,
Like
a painting with pervasive smoke
At
sunset – So picturesque our native land!
If
you get back there send my true words.
After
ten years abroad I am drifting still;
So
many budtimes have come again,
I
have silently cried by myself on the sill.
It
is late in winter, it is dead cold;
Losing
one‘s country is losing one’s range.
From
thousand miles away, my love;
Once
exiled, earth and sky are to change.
You
go back there convey my best wishes
With
full feeling and whole heart of mine
For
peace and happiness for everybody
While
awaiting the dear dawn’s shine.
Vietnamese poem by NGỌC AN
English translation by THANH-THANH