by Luu Trong
Lu,to Sister Tr.
It was just last year
He and I were here
Coming to this Giap
Mo to stay over
In a grass hut built
for lovers
I was busy with silk
cord spinning
He was occupied
with poem reciting.
Orioles were singing
boisterously in brouhaha
I saw that flowers
were blooming in the back yard.
Pausing my weaving,
I called out to my lover
Hey, hey! Mate!
Spring is coming over,
He contemplated
spring with a face that looked so radiantly
I looked at him
with great warmth, my heart beat so heavily
Days are going, day
after day
The colours are
fading away
Leaves and flowers
are fallen
The three-roomed
hut is vacant.
Spring is gone.
He is also gone.
This year spring
is still coming here
The old lover is
not, my dear.
Translated from
Vietnamese into English by Hương Cau Cao Tân
on 20 July, 2019,
in British Columbia, Canada