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Seven Vietnamese Poems
| Article
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18359 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1990 |
562 Words |
| Author
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Translated by Graeme Wilson
Herb Greer is an American writer and playwright who lives in
Britain and on the Continent. |
Toad
Born rough-skinned and wart-faced,
He Squats like some cold stone
In somber crannies, dank low corners,
Churlishly alone.
At times his flickering tongue
Licks up an ant or two.
So what, you say: all creatures
Act as they're born to do.
But some are born to do evil.
Had it the strength and size,
That creature would destroy the world:
Nothing can disguise
The chill malignancy of mind
Behind those glittering eyes.
Ly Dao Tai (1254-1334)
River Landing
Blue cooking-smokes obscure the sagging thatch
Of the few crude dwellings ranged near the landing-Plank
Where a single boat, bound downstream, briefly lolls.
Three of the rat-like children crouched to catch
Crabs in the mud-flats of the river-bank
Carry banana-leaves as parasols.
Thai Thuan (originally an army elephant trainer, he graduated to the mandarinate in 1475)
Two Months Drought
It was floods last year: now this year it is drought.
The rice-fields, high and low, are bare as bone:
In both, the scoops for sloshing the water out
...
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