Top 10 Best Poems by poet Anh Ngọc

Mỵ Châu

Poem by Anh Ngọc

Goose feathers and swan feathers fall on the escape route
The feathers don't know how to hide themselves.

Tears become the opposite of trust
Love ends at the same path as death.

But a beautiful woman, even if her head falls, remains beautiful
Love deceived remains intact.

If only there were a Mỵ Châu in the world
Intoxicated with love yet always vigilant

No mistakes, no tricks by enemies
A Mỵ Châu like the one I always dream of

Then surely Mỵ Châu wouldn't have lived until now
To remain faithful to a love of two thousand years maybe

Like you and I, even though we love each other faithfully
Won't last beyond a hundred years.

So, despite the heartache
We still can't save Mỵ Châu from death

The sea boys will take over
Guarding the gem of love within themselves.

Here is still the statue with a severed head
Because of the severed head, the statue is more alive.

The severed head recalls the warm color
For two thousand years under the stone, it still flows.

Like you, I want to remind Mỵ Châu
While there are enemies, please stay vigilant.

But how can we remind someone two thousand years ago
So, my dear, I have to remind myself.

The Old General

(Dedicated to General Võ Nguyên Giáp)

Poem by Anh Ngọc

His opponents have long been dead
No adversaries left for him to fight
He sits amidst encircling time
Listening to the slow descent of dusk around him

Feet have traversed two wars
Now slowly following the staff's trace
Wrinkled hands tremblingly shaky
Once sowed terror upon the enemy

In the autumn garden
The leaves, like him, silently
At eighty, he's like a child
A smile blooming with innocence

He departs
And...
He has arrived
Life is a sealed journey
Between the starting point and the destination

A realm of remembrance and forgetfulness
The joys and sorrows not yet named
The worldly clouds disperse, the wind blows
The warhorses, tired, rest

Lulling the dreams of the old general
Cries intermingle with laughter
One foot he placed in history
The other lingering in the autumn.

This poem was written in 1994 after the author and other military writers visited General Võ Nguyên Giáp at 30 Hoang Dieu Street to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the army.

The Shy Tree

Poem by Anh Ngọc

On Highway 9, there's a clump of shy trees
Soldiers passing by, all smiling

In the midst of a fire, bombs raining down
All exposed, laid bare
The shy tree with its bewildering green
Hides within its closed and dimming leaves

Soldiers passing here all step very softly
When suddenly, a strange foot floats
The tree quickly closes a thousand eyes of leaves
Sap rises, the branch gently tilts as if greeting

Once the person leaves, the shadow follows
The young soldier suddenly turns, amused
The tree has revealed round, clustered eyes
Prying mischievously, looking on

In this strange minute, the sky and earth clear
The soldier hears whispers of silent encounters
Many postures fleeting in memory
So familiar, yet unspoken

In the midst of a fire, bombs raining down
The tree appears as a hidden ambition
The young soldier picks a branch of shyness
Preserving it in the pages of his journal

And this story, only the tree shares with him.

Source: Truong Son - The Road of Aspiration, National Political Publishing House, 2009

Thị Màu

By Anh Ngọc

The one who, for centuries, has stirred the courtyards
Has driven the opening and closing curtains insane
The bold one
The one who knows no fear
The one who has never stepped back before love

The one who broke the mold of traditional rowing
So life floods at the doorstep
The honest one, needing no concealment
Red lips, wet eyes swaying

The one daring enough to tease even in the temple
Choosing a saffron robe to playfully provoke
Abundant in vigor, yet always lacking
So the fragrance of incense teases, mocking

The one who passes swaying in laughter
Ignoring all the buzzing whispers
The one who endures all the quirks of a unique life
The fan of colors opening and closing, still composed

On their lips, a song remains forever young
Every strand of hair vibrates to the rhythm
The smell of ripe apples, fragrance, the scent of flesh
They pass the stage to the mundane

Living in the breath of the people
For centuries, who could feel both love and anger
The distorted lyrics still cheer in rebellion
The drum beats to voiceless aspirations

Aspirations deep within each heart
Living true to oneself in essence
The shackles painted with the color of morality
Centuries unable to lock away Thị Màu

Deep desires in every heart
To live true to oneself in essence
The painted chains of morality
Centuries unable to lock away Thị Màu

The curtains have closed behind
The apples still fall, untouched
Many Thị Màu have returned to reality
The taste of apples lingers on the lips.

If Only

By Anh Ngọc

Remember, you once said to me:
If one day we grow tired of each other
Life would be so endlessly...
Casually, I never thought of that.

The days of joy passed so quickly
Now we are truly apart
The past has departed to the sky
Words of old have turned into prophecies

Love comes, love goes
Who knows, it's beyond control

If only those days we didn't meet
No exchanged glances, no shared smiles

Indifferently, two faces among the crowd
Stood still in the middle of life standing still
Then each went their own way
No ripples, no lingering in the heart

No sadness, no memories, no longing
Nights without dreams, days without waiting...

If only we... from the past
Grew tired of each other the moment we met...

(27-1-2007)

Gaze

By Anh Ngọc

Stars in the sky, a myriad of shimmering rays.
Like a myriad of white flowers adorning the high sky.
Nurturing dreams since ancient times.
Wishing to soar to the deep distant star.
Those stars up there, oh, so beautifully countless.
Yet for thousands of years, they still float in the corner of the sky.
Ignoring the passage of days, months, and years.
Stars don't understand the sweetness and bitterness of my heart.
Stars don't comprehend my longing heart.
How can they understand the coldness of celestial bodies?
Only your eyes - oh, the bright gaze within.
Can truly fathom all of my feelings.
Your gaze - oh, the dazzling starlight.
The love, the fire burning in my heart.

For Someone

By Anh Ngọc

Bidding farewell at the door
I turn inside quietly
Suddenly feeling lonely
Amidst the cluttered tables and chairs

When someone doesn't love us
Sadness is inevitable, it seems
When we don't love someone
Why is the sadness just as deep?

Like losing something
A vague, indescribable sorrow
As if indebted to someone
A debt that can't be repaid

Perhaps I love that someone
Now feeling desolate
Or maybe I love myself
Having endured much humiliation

Thinking there's nothing
Yet it becomes complicated
All with just one word
To say or not to say?

Because it's simple like that
How to make it right
When that someone loves me
While I love someone else.

A Cat Sleeping on My Chest

By Anh Ngọc

A cat is sleeping on my chest
Beneath the cat, my heart is beating
I lie down, listening to the rhythmic, soothing beats
My heart harmonizes with the cat's heart

Shutting, then, the bright, azure eyes
Closing, then, the sharp, pointed teeth
The horror of the mouse pack
Closing, then, the darkness of the black night

Now lying here in a peaceful dream
Like a child embraced in a comforting hug
A cat is sleeping on my chest
Noon in winter, heavy with leaden clouds...

My heart, in a moment, becomes soft
Something slightly moist, like happiness
Being sheltered, being caressed, enveloped
Silently singing a lullaby...

Sleep on, sleep on, innocent ears pricked
Sleep on, sleep on, the long, playful tail
Sleep on, sleep on, the proud tiger cub
The whiskers stretch across the bright, azure eyes

I lie down, listening to my heart singing
On my chest, a cat is sleeping...

Perhaps He's Afraid of Love Again

By Anh Ngọc

Perhaps he's afraid of love again
Like fearing the tormented heart's twist
Fearful of the bright sun, the rainy evening
Fearful of having, then losing it
Fearful of the water flowing, flowers drifting, leaving only foam

Perhaps he's afraid of love again
Like fearing building a house on sand
Fearful of catching shrimp to feed storks
When the stork grows, it flies away
Poor thing, someone's clamoring for its liver and gizzard

Oh, your love, a kind of wound
Covered in silk and brocade
The sweet words to you are poison
Hiding a sword behind the sweet honeyed words

Perhaps he's afraid of love again
Beauty crafted from pain
He's like someone afraid of ghosts, all grown up:
Fearing what ghost? We only fear humans.




(2001)

Small Tale in the Forest

By Anh Ngọc

Suddenly, he swung the knife down
A small, gentle tree was his prey
Suddenly, it fell to the ground
Clusters of nameless small flowers lay.

The path to take, to arrive
Columns, poles, strings, awaiting him
The ground seemed to bleed
Confused for a moment, hard to bear.
That's how it is, what else can be done
Between forests and wars
Even his poems are written
Sometimes with his own blood.
Flowers lying on the ground
Silently without a word
Every step forward on the path
Covered with fallen flowers