The Vietnamese - American Poetic Spirit





Nỗi niềm mất mác

by Thong Ba Le

Cha tôi vĩnh biệt trần gian
Hôm mồng bảy Tết pháo vang ngập trời
Khi cơn bảo tuyết mù khơi
Trong đêm gió buốt chơi vơi tôi buồn

Mưa tuyết ḥa với lệ tuôn
Tâm tư giá lạnh như buồm đứt dây
Thổn thức tràn ngập tim nầy
Để tang cha được vừa đầy một năm

Mẹ buồn đau khổ âm thầm
Theo cha về chốn cơi âm mịt mù
Trời đầy mây xám âm u
Uất ức tắt nghẹn ngh́n thu oán đời

Thách bầy quỷ sứ dám chơi
Tranh tài xem thử dưới trời ai hơn.

My Big Losses

On the seventh day of a lunar New Year,
I lost my father when a snow storm was near.
That night the snow flakes were mixed with my tears,

I stood alone in the blizzard bareheaded without fear
of being frozen. My heart was colder right here.
I lost my mind in the dark, a sailor without navigation gears.

I mourned his death over thirteen months and more
along with my Mom who stayed with him before.
I was forced to leave my beloved whom I adored

on the day I lost my country to the dictators.
The tragedy kept following me - in encore.
My Mom died in grief, I was suffering, my heart sore.

That was on a windy morning in April,
I was crying on my way to meet the Devil,
I wanted to challenge him with my skill !!!

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