Top 10 Poems by the Legendary Poet Trịnh Công Sơn

I search for you
Amidst the morning dew
Across endless hills
A blossom in its prime
A fragile soul
A scent of tender lips
A fresh start

I search for you
In my whispered vows
In nights yet to unfold
In days of purity
Amongst birds in flight
Sipping on dewdrops
Rediscovering riverbanks
In laughter

I search for you near and far
Amidst a vibrant world
In rosy mists
In silvering twilight
With the moon waning
Yet hope never fades
Where are you

Amidst the ephemeral
In sacred verses
Thunder echoing
Suddenly, I see you
Beneath my feet
At the source

I invite you back
To nights washed by rain
You sit all around
Fragrant with incense

In the tranquil rain garden
A jubilant melody
Golden moon heralds
A single quince blossom…
From now on, I have someone
You walk alongside in life's journey
From now on, I have love
You, my beloved, radiant and true
With you, I am whole
In your figure, I sit in the courtyard
With you, I am complete
In your figure, I sit in the courtyard...

Winter bestows upon you melancholy
In the evening, you stand singing at the river's head
Winter's end pulls the water up
A hint of love, swiftly takes form...

From now on, I have you
Grateful to the mountains and rivers for echoing your song
From now on, on rooftops
A bird sings, named gratitude...

A pink lotus blossom
You sitting in your prime
An era of love
With joy and sorrow
From early dawn high
To sweet night

A pink lotus blossom in full bloom
You, in your rosy prime of youth
A lonely pink lotus
You, sorrowfully, repay all love...

One afternoon, you stand at the river's end
Fall breeze, so tender
Carrying scriptures to mountains and valleys
Words of love you weave under moonlight
A time of cherished love has passed
Your pink heels yearn to return
Though the world may be harsh
It's time to return to your homeland

Since then, in the late-night garden
Oh, your ancient dress
A fleeting wisp of cloud
Has passed through our lives
Since then, in our souls
Oh, the heavy toll of bells
Wild horses gallop in distant woods
Resonating through earth and sky
Since then, we sit entranced
To see on distant roads
A carriage arrives like
Both arrival and departure

Since then, where do we lie
Oh, the mountain and the pass
A bit of the transcendent follows
Every moment high, now low
Since then, you are the flower
A rosy morning one day
Blooming in the twilight
Await the ephemeral breeze
Since then, you are the dew
Coolly dropping in the dawn
Since then, I am the night
Blooming a flower everlasting...

Here, the streets are gentle like grass
There's innocence amidst faces
Here, the grass is gentler than the streets
For beneath my feet lies the sun.

A bird perches on a bamboo branch
A fish lodges in a crevice of the source water
Today, I dwell in this transient abode
A hundred years away at the edge of the sky

In the past, dwelling in distant realms
The wind takes residence, spanning vast lands and skies
Inhabitants return to various abodes
Misty-eyed over lips so rosy

Those clouds once free in their flight
The rain and sun find lodging within people's eyes
Your heart, your dwelling, is me
Tomorrow, returning to a place remote yet near

Lovely lips reside in their place
Walking in this dwelling, the feet of Thuý Kiều
May we dwell close to each other
Tomorrow, regardless of what may come, we accept

A hundred years in this perch, a thousand years
Nights spent in this dwelling, surrounded by sorrow
Is it a lovely cycle
I am but a person adrift amidst life.

The distant road, ever transient

My heart suddenly awakens, I yield

(Montreal 1992)

Taking half of you on the journey
The other half remains, sadness swirling
Spring in the streets brims with affection
My troubled steps, alone in thought

(Montreal 21-4-1992)

You leave, snow falls
Startled by snowflakes
Spring, harsh snow
Grass and leaves mournfully
You leave, so small
Amidst the snowy season
I wander endlessly
Amidst the snowy spell
My heart in turmoil
Snow turns away
That spring, this spring
My soul undecided
Who knows

(Montreal 11-4-1992)

The spot you sat, once so warm
I lay my head and sleep a long sleep
Do you understand life as a dream
For me to return, believing one is two

(Montreal 1992)

If here for a hundred years
Away from you, I'd have a hundred sorrows
If here forever
Away from you, I'd be melancholy yet serene

(Evening of 22-4-1992 in Montreal with a friend)

The sun returns, the rain returns, the sky turns to snow
That day is gone, where did you go
Where are you going, my dear
Oh dear, you are a painful snowflake
A painful snowflake, oh dear, you are a dream
A dream now for eternity
You, tomorrow's snowflake, are smoke
Smoke, but also forever
You are that smoke yet not
A candle's flicker in the deep night

(Montreal 11-4-1999)

Life's cloak, just past
A small body, a person scolding another
Sorrow shatters dreams on the long road
I ask for a corner, to sit with myself

(Montreal 1992)

Ocean waves, ocean waves, do not push me
Do not push me to fall beneath people's feet
Ocean waves, ocean waves, do not clash
When I push the ocean, where do the waves go?

Silver waves
And mountains submerged deep
Where do we go...

To what place
Clouds shroud in dreams
Spring's end
Four corners ploughed
Where do I find you?

Ocean waves, ocean waves, do not clash
When I push the ocean, waves lie in pain
Ocean waves, ocean waves, do not push me
Do not push me to fall amidst people's hearts.

Ocean waves, ocean waves, do not push me
Do not show me all of people's hearts
Ocean waves, ocean waves, do not clash
When I push the ocean, where do the waves go?

Whichever sleep, the bed lonely,
Moon faints over the old village.

Someone stands waiting, the wind whispers in the field,
Golden rays remind of autumn's words.

Remembering a thousand years have passed...

Ocean waves, ocean waves, do not drift far
Years of waiting, waves near us
Ocean waves, ocean waves, do not darken
Do not foster revenge in your heart

Ocean waves, ocean waves, do not clash.

Where Do the Waves Go is a song written by Trịnh Công Sơn in 1995, inspired by the phrase: “Gaté Gaté. Pagaté. Pasamgaté. Bodhi svaha”.

One morning, on the road
Mother in the garden
Inquiring about the pumpkin
Still green on the vine

One morning, by the sidewalk
The garden seems deserted
Just leave the pumpkin here
On the road with Mother

Pumpkin sleeps soundly along the distant road
On Mother's weary shoulders, so much toil
Remembering a lifetime of toil
Today, leaving the garden and village behind
Why is Mother's old feet trembling so
Passing through white mist and rosy blood

One morning, returned home
Stopping by the town
Mother hugs the pumpkin
Eyes still dazed

Empty road on the side
A figure so small
Mother carries the pumpkin
Heading to the distant market

Mother remembers the old house
The row of areca trees behind the summer
Especially the pumpkin
Remembering the vine full of flowers

Mother remembers the old house
The row of areca trees behind the summer
Especially the pumpkin
Remembering the vine full of flowers.

Source: http://vanhoc.xitrum.net

Another day like any other,
I return to life
Another day like any other,
We accept love's final offer
Another day like any other,
Life is light as smoke
Another day like any other,
Bearing a heavy soul
Another day like any other,
Remembering the sun at the lip's edge
Another day like any other,
Pain heavy with each word spoken
Another day like any other,
Every vein of life writhing
Another day like any other,
Walking home alone
Another day like any other,
Walking home alone
Another day like any other,
Around one's life suddenly darkens
Another day like any other,
Sorrowful tone continues
Another day like any other,
Horse carriage returns to sleep
Another day like any other,
I return to life
Another day like any other,
Arms crossed unjustly
Another day like any other,
Each evening rises with regret
Another day like any other,
Shadow falls alone...

From the heavens pours unjust rain
Shoulders bear the burden of fate, a land of solace
The world laden with myriad debts
In the future, tears fall, a line divides.

The scent of old, lingering mother's warmth
Lips poised, contemplative, ancient dismay
Fading sun, words of parting, afar
Remember a bit more of the faint distant fragrance.

Nothing remains, stay here my dear
A bit of grass and flowers in the soul
A soul a bit of grass and leaves
Leaves and grass, a soul's tender kiss.

The kiss of old, now faded away
Fading on paths we used to tread
The way back now wind, rain, and stormy fray
But your footprints, still warm, the vow we made.

Let it stay warm, your rosy footprints
Rosy like the kiss, now lost and faint
Oh my dear, the rosy hue vanished
Lost forever in the void, concealed and quaint.

What is the void, the concealed void?
A bit of faded pink, a hint of doubt
Doubt is perhaps the kiss itself
Faded too much along the way, no route.