Two Vietnamese poems for all those long years of suffering and struggle.


A Piece of Sky Without Bombs
by Lam Thi My Da

Your friends said that you, a roadbuilder,
had such love for our country, you rushed
down the trail that night, waving your torch
to save the convoy, calling the bombs down on yourself.

We passed by the spot where you died,
tried to picture the young girl you once had been.
We pitched stones up on the barren grave,
adding our love to a rising pile of stone.

I gaze into the center of the crater
where you died and saw the sky in the pool
of rain water. Our country is so kind:
water from the sky washes the pain away.

Now you rest deep in the ground,
quiet as the sky that rests in the crater.
At night your soul pours down,
bright as the stars.

I wonder, could it be your soft skin
changed into columns of white clouds?
Could it be that when we passed that day,
it was not the sun but your heart breaking through?

This jungle trail now bears your name;
the skies reach down to your death and touch it;
and we, who never saw your face,
each wear a trace of you, bright on our cheek.
(Translated by Ngo Vinh Hai and Kevin Bowen)



A Vietnamese Bidding Farewell to the Remains of an American
by Tran Thi My Nhung

Was your plane on fire, or did you die
of bullet wounds, or fall down exhausted?
Just so you died in the forest, alone.

Only the two of us, a woodcutter and his wife,
dug this grave for you, burned joss sticks,
prayed for you to rest in peace.

How could we know there’d be such a meeting,
you and I, once separated by an ocean,
by the color of our skin, by language?
But destiny bound our lives together.
And today, by destiny’s grace,
you are finally going home.

I believe your American sky
is as blue as the sky above this country
where you’ve rested twenty years.

Is it too late to love each other?
Between us now, the ocean seems so small.
How close are our two continents.

I wish a tranquil heaven for your soul,
gemmed with twinkling stars and shining moon.
May you rest forever in the soil of your home.

translated by Phan Thao Chi and adapted by W. D. Ehrhart.

One of the greatest events and achievements in the history of mankind .With the Soviet triumph in Word War 2 over the Nazis the greatest military victory won in the last millenium where the Vietnamese people triumphed against unbelievable odds.Ho Chi Minh deployed his creative genius in applying Com Mao's protracted Peoples War concept to conquer a seemingly invincible enemy.Long live the memories of the Vietnamese victory!Their lesson is an abject for revolutionaries today particularly in light of the middle Eastern uprisings and the struggle of the Iraqi people.The existence and support of Socialist China played an important role in the historic triumph of Vietnam.