Top 10 Best Poems by Venerable Thượng Tọa Tuệ Sỹ (Phạm Văn Thương)

The queen sits majestically in the red light
The evening star twinkles in her hair
She bends down to please her loyal subjects
Who is this stranger before me?

I am the messenger of the Void
And I offer through my gaze to you
A grain of sand.

Source: Tuệ Sỹ, The Dream of Trường Sơn, An Tiêm Publishing, California, 2002

The cry of a child echoes the eternal word
From the primal river of blood to the lush fields
I am the grass drifting in the eternal stream
Listening to lullabies, I remember the dawn
The beginning of time, my soul rises from the grave
Drinking the late dew, seeking the far path of life
When the morning sun tenderly kisses the small buds
I wonder, who do I love, as the sky ignites with dawn?

The white storks, still shy, are in love
Why does the sun despise her beautiful hair?

I climb the mountain searching for sorrow somewhere

Why does childhood not cry at dawn?

Source: Tuệ Sỹ, The Dream of Trường Sơn, An Tiêm Publishing, California, 2002

1.
A swallow on a long winding road
A long night hearing the waterfall from above
I hurry across the distant river
Waiting for the rain in the fluttering butterfly wings

2.
The ghost calls your name each morning
Each day passing with scattered words
The rain paints your dark hair with heavy dew
In dreams, the leaves drift far from the shore

3.
Standing still in the river bathed in sunlight
What tales are told of the distant past?
The little butterfly returns on fragile wings
But where to, as a leaf departs the season?

4.
Years pass like a smile in a dream
You keep moving like water flowing from its source
The strange shores, alone with the shadow
The clouds lost, oh, the ancient hair of time.

Source: Tuệ Sỹ, The Dream of Trường Sơn, An Tiêm Publishing, California, 2002

A promise, buried beneath sorrow
The bird's wings drift far, deep into the heart
In an instant, a sense of decay is felt
One autumn, a thousand desperate cries fill the air
The night remains cold with fog and stormy winds
Breathing deeply, dust and dreams swirl away
By the window, beyond the hill, the stars appear
Once you leave, the train journey is endless
Leaving behind memories of afternoons with silvered hair
Eyes searching the horizon, watching the blood wander.

Source: Tuệ Sỹ, The Dream of Trường Sơn, An Tiêm Publishing, California, 2002

One night, my eyes sank deep like the ocean’s floor
Two hands, smoke drifting, caressed distant hair
In that land, the moon has grown thin forever
From the randomness of a dreamless sleep

Once, I was fixed like a star in the endless sky
Then again, I fell prey to fleeting mistakes
The sky remains unchanged, with still evening winds
Still living a life of stories never told true
Still clinging to the ruins of a forgotten fate
While blinded eyes search for the void of the unknown
Once hesitant before the ancient pine trees
Never wrong, don’t you think?
Tomorrow, let’s wait for you, just one journey
Two hands, smoke drifting, caressing distant hair.

Source: Tuệ Sỹ, The Dream of Trường Sơn, An Tiêm Publishing, California, 2002

She grew up in a land torn and broken
Her mother’s hands thin, while the land lay barren
Her younger siblings lacked warmth, struggling through winter
The full moon glowed, her cheeks damp with autumn dew

In the dead of night, her hair carried the faint scent of smoke
Her father's shadow stretched deep into forgotten realms
At twenty, the night seemed endless, filled with sorrow
The dying light of a lamp cast pale shadows on the vast plain

Throughout the winter, she sewed her wedding dress
Even in beauty, her destiny remained tied to hardships
Red flowers held by another’s hand fluttered like wings
While her own feet felt the weight of dust and loneliness

On mornings filled with the smoke of resentment
She heard the wolves calling, signaling the dawn
The children wandered through the streets in search of shelter
Seeking the future, scraping for a living

From the days when the Pacific roared with waves
Her homeland bled with the shared wounds of war
She no longer dreamed of afternoons in silk dresses
She dreamed of Trường Sơn, where heroes are born
Since that day, her heart has echoed with the beat of revolution
She gave her love to the cause, without a bridal gown
There was no waiting, only endless hopes and silent devotion
And from then on, her hair was bound by promises
Her feet, worn by the paths of Trường Sơn
Her fragile body followed the floodwaters
Her eyes wandered, reflecting the distant beauty of the mountains
Trường Sơn, the towering pines stood proud
Her homeland, battered but strong, endured through centuries
Her frail shoulders carried the weight of an entire spring.

Sài Gòn 80

Source: Tuệ Sỹ, The Dream of Trường Sơn, An Tiêm Publishing, California, 2002

Lying, embracing the fading moon
My shoulders weighed down with sorrow, dreams broken
How many heartbeats resound through the Trường Sơn forest
How many tides rise in the East, coloring the sky with red streaks
Grief pours over this long journey
Will the traveler leave with only a pure heart?

The blood of the people stains the flag with crimson
A distant sky slices a half-dream in two
The army marches, crushing the fading sun
A mournful song lingers on their lips
Love unreturned, revenge left behind
They fade away, destined for endless wandering.

N.Tr. 4-1975

Source: Tuệ Sỹ, The Dream of Trường Sơn, An Tiêm Publishing, California, 2002

Wet eyes of a golden age beneath the old sky
Blue clothes no longer stay blue on the barren hill
In a rush, one finds themselves as a wanderer
Lighting a midnight lamp, telling tales of the fading moon
From the cold mountains to the timeless sea
This stone peak and that salt grain remain undissolved
Laughing with the sun, how quickly a day passes
Today winter, tomorrow summer, is it filled with sadness?
Counting gray hairs, the journey of life still isn't complete
The long dusty road, weary steps wandering far
Now looking back, four walls feel heavy
The distant stream and forest, reversing the water flows of the thousand rivers.

This poem was later adapted by composer Hoàng Ngọc Tuấn into the song 'The Old Sky'.

Source: Tuệ Sỹ, The Dream of Trường Sơn, An Tiêm Publishing, California, 2002

I am still waiting through the long restless nights
The pale blue light in the sound of cries by the forest
In the shadows of hatred, yearning forever
A star shining through the tear-filled corner of my eyes
I am still waiting through the silent, windless nights
The deep black eyes, echoing from the distant past
Gazing into eternity, stretching the history even longer
The river, swollen with blood and tears from my homeland
I am still waiting, forgetting the waves forever
Forgetting those drifting across the Pacific
The ones who stayed under the tyrant's hand
A fragile reed weighed down by the setting sun's light
Before me, the prison walls loom small and suffocating
Which finger taps the rhythm on the moss-covered wall?
Then, closing my eyes, I slip into a dream
Like morning mist, like a lightning flash, or the clouds of dusk.

Saigon 78

This poem was later adapted into a song by composer Hoàng Ngọc Tuấn in 1986 with the same title.

Source: Tuệ Sỹ, The Dream of Trường Sơn, An Tiêm Publishing, California, 2002

Ten years from now, he will return to visit the old town
The Trường Sơn's color blends with the noon sun
He still remembers the dusty red roads
And the love reflected in the tired eyes.

Vạn Giã Forest 77

Source: Tuệ Sỹ, Dream of Trường Sơn, An Tiêm Publishing, California, 2002