Wednesday, January 27, 2010

a long poem of waiting, for one who wants to read

(một người bạn muốn đọc thơ tôi. đã lâu lắm tôi không có nữa. nhưng bạn hỏi, tôi cũng tò mò, muốn xem mình đã viết gì. lâu rồi không nhớ mình đã viết gì. cảm ơn bạn. bài thơ này tặng bạn.)


A Poem of Waiting


Tie me a knot. Take me slowly
as I feel my way along the edge.
Go 'head, fall
to me, my hands are free; i'm just waiting.
Fall on me, next to me, push me,
please.
You’re like sap, quietly running.
***

My fingers, they want to feel the directions your eyebrows
move, wisps of hair, lips that part, the ridge of your nose,
gentle neckline,
deep collarbones above your breasts.
They want to count your ribcage
make prophecies
on your spine.
**

Every letter that begins is unfinished.
What I want to say is too much,
it's not enough.
I lace my hands
Under my feet,
and rock, rock, rock,
good night. good night.
**

Love, I want to see you
a boy of fourteen
or a man of sixty—perhaps
Skip the manly age
You are in.
**

Each pick up of a book
I must put down:
I haven’t finished
All I wanted to say yet.
**

bury your memories for good,
daddy,
in the groves of pomelo trees,
where she drowned, or slept,
under the shades of pomelo trees.
**

12:10 and winds are drifting,
all I can do this hour
is turn the coffee cup in my hands,
red droplets staining my knuckles.
All the while turning
Turning
Turning.
**

Spit them out like iron claves
Spitting wilted petals dripping on my tongue
Spit out lemon seeds
prattling:
Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!
**

I was sitting there, waiting,
When he asked me how i am.
I wanted to tell him
Ask me instead, if I’m happy,
How my soul is even,
Ask me what I’m thinking,
How I feel,
What and who I miss, sitting there—
Just not
how i am.
**

I miss you most
when light-headed,
Inhalation of cigarette smoke,
black paint on your breast
and the underside of my arm,
when I hear excuse me, mad’am,
you’re not allowed.

4 comments:

  1. Trước 20 tuổi mình không đọc thơ tiếng Anh, nên bây giờ bảo đọc thì căng lắm. Nói chung, nếu là tiếng Anh thì mình chỉ đọc được văn, còn thơ, tuy vẫn hiểu, nhưng không cảm được.

    Có thơ tiếng Việt không?:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. ồ, vậy thì không. :( tiếng Việt em càng ngày càng xuống dốc, có cố gắng đọc thêm nhưng vẫn không tiến bộ hơn (chắc vì ít dùng). hời, lại làm anh GM thất vọng rồi.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear qt,

    I like the never-finished letters,
    the irrelevance of age,
    and the hidden disappointment of the wrong questions.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Lila Thanh,

    I like your always nice comments
    and am just grateful you're reading my blog! :)

    ReplyDelete