Top 10 Most Beautiful Poems by Poet Nguyễn Thiên Ngân

I wish to sit beside you
Sing a nomadic love song
Amidst the restless mountains
Through the sparse autumn forest
Across a train cutting through the rain
In a village of forgotten dreams.
The love song will fly away
But we remain here
Days of eternal green
Like the lake upon the mountain
There will be no separation
Nor foolish calculations
The weaknesses, the fears
Will vanish without a trace
Hand in hand
Rocking the spring closer.

Source: Nguyễn Thiên Ngân, We Must Live Like That Summer, Literature Publishing House, 2012

You are the sandalwood tree
On the hill, I am the white mist
The valley is silent in the evening
Listening to a long dream reverberate
You gaze at the clouds in every direction
I look at you in vain
We both long for things
That do not belong to us
Day after day, side by side
But words fade into silence...
No one will ever understand
Why the sandalwood tree
And the misty hill
Are together, yet alone.

Who do I long for, who is it?
This morning I woke up to start work early
Who do I long for, who is it?
I miss the one who looked at me with concern
“Quit your job, I’ll support you, you write your stories”
If only I knew my true talent
I’d let them support me instead
But I fear I’d write the most mundane words
While others hustle, I would regret.
If only I truly knew my sadness
I’d drink to drown out this life
I’d lean on your shoulder and cry away
I want to be drunk, I want to escape
If only I could fall asleep for just a moment
And wake up to find you holding my hand
If only you knew how every dream
Only remembers you – deeply, fully
If only I had met you first
Before the storms of my heart arose
I would love you like the flowers
Of innocent youth, pure and white
If only you had come sooner
I wouldn’t have had to walk through all this roundabout...

Source: Nguyễn Thiên Ngân, We Must Live Like That Summer, Literature Publishing House, 2012

We are like the sad pine tree behind the mountain
Drinking the wind alone, intoxicated alone
You are a shadow of a graceful bird
Leaving nothing behind after your wings fly...

14/1/2019

Each sunset is a farewell
Each sunrise marks a new beginning
Life keeps turning, what else can we do
We cannot stop and wait forever.

The old mountain has turned gray, waiting for the years
And the river’s heart has dried up with longing
We thought there would be a way out in the dead of night
But one day, we collapsed under the pouring rain.

A small embrace can only hold hope so tight
The heart trembles, unable to contain the storm
Let go of everything and feel the wind in your empty hands
One step back,
And the sky and sea will forgive.

You will return to the old days
Live peacefully, with an unexpected new chapter
Step boldly as if you’ve never shattered
Your eyes gentle when remembering the past.

Each sunset is a farewell
Each sunrise marks a new beginning
You will walk alone through the darkness
Under this sky,
The stars will shine because of you.

Am I too weary to utter the words of love?
What do you hide behind those deep eyes?
While I surrender to this passionate love
Promising to climb mountains, only to meet endless rivers
Am I too tired to speak of love?
The past, I no longer wish to revisit
My memories of you are quiet afternoons
As I sit, listening to my heart shattering
Am I too tired to speak of love?
Afraid of making promises I may forget
Fearing failure, and the torment it brings
Worrying that vows may drift away like waves?
So I sit here, questioning myself
Wondering if my words are empty
What will I say tomorrow, when the seasons change,
When I meet my past love again across the waves?
Life will label me a traitor
For not cherishing what once nurtured me
(That love awakened me
Lifted me into the skies with faith)
I’ll wander to the ends of the earth
Like the cursed Jew, punished by God
And memories will wound me deeply
My words of love will freeze on my lips
What nightmares could stop me
From saying I love you
As if it were the first and only time?
Am I too tired, then leave me alone
I will love you twice, three times, or four
For every past becomes sacred
Keep what you must...

Source: Nguyễn Thiên Ngân, We Must Live Like That Summer, Literature Publishing House, 2012

The city turns cold as the seasons shift
Like opening the fridge and sticking your head into the chill
Riding on the road, all I want is to stop
Lean against a tree and sip a hot coffee
To watch a crystal-clear morning pass by
These are the days when the seasons change
The city looks so endearing, like a blooming branch
With fragrant kisses lingering in the air
Your lips smelling like freshly peeled orange rind
In the midst of a late-night ride
Your hand grazing your neck, sending chills
Every sip of longing leads to a curled-up kiss
As the seasons change, the city
Seems to be drawn with pencil strokes
Skyscrapers, flower pots, sprays of water
Everything feels like it’s sprouting wings
And ready to fly away.
On these days of changing seasons, I sit back
And soak in the pure rays of sunlight filtering through
The leaves, the lashes
Poured into a quick cup of orange juice by the roadside
And into the softness of your embrace
When in love, even a quiet stone whispers
Words of love, fresh and green
How much more so a morning like this, between seasons.

A fragile heart
A soul that’s deep in shadow
The early winter chills
Leaving through the mist.

A thin horse, patient
Stumbling through each step
The sun’s rays are frail
It feels both near and distant.

We, in our youth
All must cross the forest
Some walk slow and steady
Others rush like moths to flames.

You face a few years of hardship
While I’ve carried decades of sorrow
No one has ever fully walked
Through the path of love’s lessons.

A fragile heart
A soul that’s deep in shadow
Still walks toward the light
On the other side,
Beyond the mist.

When will it be October
So I can take you home to tell my mother
That I am still her child
Even though my heart now knows how to love
This is my life partner, my playmate
But I still wish to be her child again.

When will it be October
So we can climb the mountain
Pick the orchid buds drenched in morning dew
Just so we can look at each other without confusion
What will tomorrow bring?
Only time will tell.
Now, in the quiet mountains
It’s just us and the world.

When will it be October
We’ll both lead a revolution
Not the one of the proletariat
But one of love
We won’t need the Winter Palace
Just a humble hut
Decorated with two golden hearts will be enough
Even though the price of gold is skyrocketing.

When will it be October
We’ll stick our noses in a pumpkin, laugh at the ghosts
Ignore the monsters, the demons
We’ll lead each other to the moon.

When will it be October
We’ll return to the rainy mountain town
I’ll kiss you under the childhood canopy
Then October will arrive
After so many seasons apart
We’ll huddle together and light the first and last candle
From loving each other, we become ageless
To be together, to live anew from the start.

Source: Nguyễn Thiên Ngân, Mình phải sống như mùa hè năm ấy, NXB Văn học, 2012

It feels like we've been asleep for a hundred years
Waking up tomorrow to find ourselves floating among the clouds
How strange, this pain...
Or maybe we should just leave it all behind?!
Dreams don't chase us.
Perhaps they'll return again.
Let’s not make promises for tomorrow
How long can this passion last…
You are in the deep valley, I am on the high mountain
How can we measure this love?

We are so afraid when someone doesn't love us
We go ask the whole world
Whether on the high mountains or in the deep seas
They pity us and tell us...

Source: Nguyễn Thiên Ngân, Lạ lùng sao, đớn đau này, NXB Hồng Đức, 2013

If I could bottle the ocean breeze
I would bring it to your house
Pouring it slowly through the garden at night
The window hinges would turn rusty
Like boats resting listlessly on a flat beach
During the summer when the sea stirs
Clothes would dry stiffly on the line
With a few grains of sand left in my pockets
While your spirit floats far and wide…
But time, time!
How can we go back to when we were teens
To jump in and swim upstream
Let the current guide us to the source
Where the sea and river meet once again
And our days were a dream filled with sunshine
Even with the salty air sticking to every window
We should live like that summer
I want us to live forever in green
I remember that summer so vividly
The storms that made the pavement steam like a frying pan
We kept saying goodbye but couldn’t part
At the garage near your home.
And if summer were a song
We would still sing it when we’re old
Then winter hides the bitterness
Our youth never experienced.
But time is like the vast ocean
You can only scoop a little in your hands
So swim before we drown
Our bones turning to black coral
But darling
We must live like that summer
I want us to live forever in green!

(Song translation: The Summer – Josh Pyke)

Source: Nguyễn Thiên Ngân, We Must Live Like That Summer, NXB Văn học, 2012