Trinh Cong Son – Mot Coi Di Ve
Composer: Trinh Cong Son
English Title: A Place to Leave from and Return to
Translated By: Gigi
For many years I have wandered
Going around in circles, growing weary
On my shoulders the sun and the moon
Lighting a lifetime, a place to leave from and return to
What words are from trees, what words are from the grass
One afternoon of pleasure, one life that is light
A day passes
First spring decays, then summer withers as well
One early autumn, one hears horses returning
To a place far away
Clouds cover overhead and the sun hangs on shoulders
My footsteps walk away, the river stays behind
From the spirit of love comes a sudden calling
Within myself a human shadow appears
This rain I'm hearing reminds me of the rain long ago
It falls within me, one small drop after another
Years without end and never a reunion
One doesn't know which place is home
Roads twist around a circle of misery and sadness
On one side is budding grass, on the other dreams
Of the past
Each sunset's call is also from the grave
In the river stream one hears the call
Of the ocean
While I return I remember myself leaving
I climb the high mountains, cross the wide-open sea
My arms have not yet covered the span of the world
In the spring of life a desolate wind blows
Today I drink for life and stay up late
Tomorrow I regret the springtime I have lost.
October 22nd, 2011 - 19:16
Man’s Ephemeral Asylum – Mot Coi Di Ve
(Tribute to music composer/singer Trinh Cong Son)
endless years gone by
i’m still strolling around
reaching nowhere in this wearing life
on my shoulders
sunshine and moonlight
shining for one hundred years
throughout my journey in human’s ephemeral asylum
rhythms o foliage ‘n tempos o exotic grass
rolling in my confused mind
intoxicated
sitting motionless in an afternoon
how delicate life is!
days flown by
spring had already left
summer’s just passed by
then galloping sounds of early autumn
echoed from afar
cloud hanging over my head
‘n sunshine on shoulders
i keep dragging both tiring feet ahead
leaving many streams and rivers behind
in my obsessive heart….
vibrated an astonishing call for passionate love
watching sudden reflection
of a human shadow
appeared
in my inner mirror
listening to pounding sounds on a soggy day here
dreaming of a rainy season somewhere else far away
now watery drops keep pouring inside myself
each tiny needle striking against a solo soul
within one hundred years in the infinite time
i have yet reached the final destination
so wondering whereabouts
o my homeland
in another world
running about on a vicious trail
oh a fatigued round
dreaming of a newly green path
‘n the youthful wonders
of the past
each word at sunset
last words to the tomb
final eulogy buried into rivers and seas.
echoed from my past passage
through small creeks and streams
while going back home
i recall my ongoing journey of strolling around
climbing on high mountains
sailing to open seas
in both uncompassionate human hands
the howling wind has frigidly wiped out
my youthful time…
Thao Chuong -Collage artist Viet Tran 2011-10-22
May 19th, 2012 - 20:47
Toi co mot translation tieng Anh mien phi. Day la mot phan nho:
How many years of wandering about?
Been here and there, weary of life.
Lit by the sun and moon shining down,
A lifetime of years, back to the unknown