I don't dare think about home!
But this lamp makes me think of the lamp at home.
The lamp at home makes me think of the people
and the scene.
The door has probably been locked early,
and tonight, the family must be very quiet.
My sister-in-law and two nieces are sleeping, no doubt.
Look, in the empty living room, sitting in that chair ......
no, stop! I don't dare think about mother!
I don't dare think about mother!
But this lamp makes me think of the lamp at home,
makes me think of mother sitting alone in the empty room
deep in the night.
Her seated, immobile body makes me think about her hair
starting to turn white, her hair makes me think about
her anxious, sorrowful eyebrows, and below her eyebrows
a pair of dazed, wide-open ......
No, stop, I don't dare to think about mother's eyes even more!

But I thought further about mother's eyes in the deep of the
night.
Flickering in the pupils of her eyes, my elder brother who was
cruelly killed.*
Flickering in the pupils of her eyes, me, far away.
The rims of her eyes filled with two drops ......
No, stop, who can bear to think of his mother's tears?

* Mr. Truyen Anh Diep died in the war against Japan. He is
honored as one of the "Thirteen Martyrs" in the Hoi An War
Heroes Memorial.

The things are arranged like this:
Electric lights, each one made silent by their brilliance.
On the wall is a map of the Pacific Ocean, a slab of deep blue.
The song from the tropical forest brought here by the radio
is like seeing the thick lips of the natives opening and closing.
After the melody ceases, the static from the wireless,
Mingmingming, shashasha,
Recklessly scours and grabs hold of our minds.

Everything that is arranged this way,
Using machines and lights and electricity,
Tints this evening in a nightclub
Into a saddening kind of pleasure.
Outside the window is the eternally cold moon.
You would imagine a woman who is a spirit,
Her light purple lips trembling.
You would imagine that in India on a night like this,
Your younger brother in a steel helmet leans against
an armored car,
As military uniforms and weapons shoot forth
a shimmering blue.

Lights, a wireless radio, a moon,
And irrepressible thoughts and imaginings
All these arrangements
On behalf of this civilized and bellicose age
Emit a blue-colored sadness.

When I was just born,
And had not yet had a chance to cry,
I opened my eyes and caught a glimpse of-
‍
I saw many young sprouts on the barren ground.
Suddenly, they all lifted their heads and straightened up as they grew bigger.
In the blink of an eye, the whole ground was filled with shady green leaves.
‍
I saw clusters of little flowers on the trees.
Suddenly, they were in full bloom, then lost their petals and fell down.
In an instant, immense fruits swelled up like sap oozing through the bark of rubber trees.

I saw round chicks, flat ducklings, kittens, puppies, red mice,
And many strange, tiny animals wriggling on the ground.
Suddenly, their feathers and hair grow profusely.
In the blink of an eye, the whole world was filled with birds and beasts.
‍
I saw, beyond the realm of these clusters of flowers, trees, birds, and beasts,
Groups of mountains and many oceans struggling with each other, floating and sinking.
In the blink of an eye, some of the oceans overwhelmed the mountains,
And some of the mountains then raised their heads up high in the midst of the oceans.
‍
I saw, beyond the struggling mountains and oceans,
Many rainbows, the sun and moon, and stars.
Suddenly, the bands of rainbow colors blended with each other,
The sun and moon chased each other around,
Stars flowed across and dimmed, then blazed forth again.
In the blink of an eye, a few comets swept by.

Just as I was about to let out my first cry,
Suddenly, I couldn't see a thing any more.
Before I could feel joy or sadness,
I quickly died a premature death.

‍