trans by Do Xuan Oanh

THE NIGHT SPRING BEGINS   

 

Waiting around the lamp

light spreads, interruptedly

believed someone holds a torch

to examine the face of each one.

 

Cooking up game to kill time :

on whom the light sheds

that person calls the way spring begins.

 

The following words are noted down :

The cold shirking bird makes arrow

fall down the wall of winter.

Looked through window the face

suggests scrawling handwriting

A drop of dew splits

tender grass foot into abyss…

 

Jesting stories

callously relate to heaven and earth

Things move themselves

unsteady mountain shadow

Bird moans that wind changes season…

 

Pulling up lamp wick

Flocks of arrows swift through the roof.