HE LOOKS LIKE A GENTLEMAN IN BAC LIEU


(to Vu Duc Quan)

He looks like a gentleman in Bac Lieu,
and she’s so pretty that people must love her, right?

Love is as fragile as the white cloud
therefore all of his soul keeps staying there.

He hasn’t poured wine to invite her yet,
but as soon as has he taken her hand
he forgets the day they have been far away.

Now he can make up for the months of sadness,
the years of anxiousness,
the hard time of heat and coldness
when he was in the border areas.

Now he can make up for fire and smoke in the battle,
he comes back home just when the lotuses are blooming.

Holding her in his arms, he thinks it’s still a dream,
Now he can make up for the times he slept with… her shadow.


9/11/2008