DESCENDING THE MOUNTAIN

Biển vắng Kỳ Co - Nhơn Lý. Photo: BXK

DESCENDING THE MOUNTAIN

1.

Descending the mountain, the earthly world is dreamy yet real.

The noises and dust in this human realm

The money is still the flowing; blood of life

Who is still lost in the cycle of prosperity and poverty?

Ah, I am wandering...

2.

I see an eighty-year-old mother selling lottery tickets

And young girls still walk their corners

The rich get richer on the suffering of the poor

And young children throughout the cold night still strolling --

Sell different kinds of things to make ends meet.

3.

I see a hardworking dad still dragging the fish net

The overfishing phenomenon had shallow the fishermen tears

I see the herds of cattle, like its government officials, still plowing hard

While  young boys and girls appear lost on their farms

4.

I see the male adults becoming emotionless

'Let's bottom up' - keep drinking while others  plead  "buy for me"

"Go away!" sounds so harsh and hopeless for a society

The echoes of a dream resounding horror!

5.

I see the female adults experiencing joy by dancing and singing

And their addictions to social media like ‘Facebook’ are like wild storms

Their materialistic life who keep buying their cosmetics when they still have so much.

No wonder their country is changing and dying in vain.

6.

I see the pollutions of the land, water, and air

Yet people are still indifferent and careless,

I see the present world facing injustice and suffering,

While the government policies are torn, corrupted, and outdated.

7.

Oh, how much I remember the old fairy moon

My hands are small to cover all sorrows

Nor big enough to hold those bloody and sweaty

The bitterness is like the fate of this country.

8.

Oh, how much I remember; fond memories of my late mother

'My children just keep your mind clear and do the best that you can'

Suddenly I recognized that this silvery hair is just not enough

For the life of an immigrant, refugee, or exiled.

Please read the Vietnamese version here. Hãy đọc tiếng Việt ở đây.