WAFTING OLD PERFUME

Back I came. The wind moved the orchid lightly,

And the rain fell faintly as illusive as nightly.

I was back.  There wafted the perfume of old,

In that repercussion remained a longing to hold.

I came back, to check if that river did cause

Upon its stream of lovesickness any boat to pause.

Back to that dim distance, our old country found,

I welcomed the moon, the hesitant autumn sound.

Back,  and  my heart suddenly felt  tears flowing,

In the mist and smoke poetic inspiration showing.

I had come back as if in a dream hard to believe

With the image of someone still to wait, to grieve.

Two decades had since elapsed: late, this dove?

Alas! Twenty years long sufficed to ruin our love.

Translation by THANH-THANH