BELOVED FAR-AWAY

DA-NANG – QUANG-NAM         

How I fret with memories this evening in exile

of my native soil, Da Nang – Hoi An polychrome:

Duy Xuyen sunlight like golden silk on bamboo gates,

yellow mums dazed with longing on your way home,

dreamy cranes hovering over the Que Tien Spring,

bewildered fawns under the Dai Binh moonlit shroud,

where I once came back to revisit Trung Phuoc

contemplating autumn fade like each sad cloud,

the sun appealing friends to Tuy Loan to have dates,

flowers flying on Ai Nghia Road in the green days,

and do you still remember this adventurous bird

on the Son Cha top, how lovable the Tra Mi fays?

the Ngu Hanh Mountains seeming forever meditative,

the Han River sound always worriedly awaiting alone,

the Phuoc Kien Pagoda bell beating in calm evenings,

and my mother grieving under that roof mossgrown,

the illustrious victories recorded in historical books,

our ancestors’ flame of struggle handed down to all,

between heaven-and-earth sparkling our poor land,

the vicissitudes of life, taking it in turns rise and fall.

nursing abstract dreams resignedly as an expatriate

I suddenly miss Quang Nam kin so much adore,

alongside the Thu River waits impatiently Giao Thuy,

gratitude to Da Dung – Hon Kem I always store.

Oh Da Nang! I will return from this faraway abode,

wild horse confined, from long trips to be immune,

lighting candles to illuminate the old historic feats,

finding sense in Hoi An birth place in the full moon.

The universe is infinite but my heart is limited,

Here is my constant loyalty to my Country just right.

I have got you, Mountains and Rivers affectionate

As the sun trees and fruits would cherish in delight.

             Translation by THANH-THANH