Nguyễn Tiến Văn

Sampler: Open Mouth poetry — Lý Đợi

Translated by Nguyễn Tiến Văn

“[A]t the gate of the palace of leadership where I worked, a beggar was always in sight. […] Then, in close watch, I recognized that the figure I had thought to be a beggar was really a painted wooden stand with a carved statue of my own half-length – cunning, rosy, and of course with a brain rotten by vermin.” Above: Presidential Palace, Hà Nội. Photo by Lars Curfs, via Wikimedia Commons.

Note: These poems were originally self-published in the bilingual book of poetry Khi Kẻ Thù Ta Buồn Ngủ/When Our Enemy Falls Asleep (Giấy Vụn/Scrap Paper Press, 2010), by Lý Đợi, with English translation by Nguyễn Tiến Văn. The works appear in Jacket2 with the agreement of the author, Lý Đợi. 

 

Syndicate content