Days and months drift like flying clouds

Unintentionally without direction

My thoughts wander

As life enters autumn

Last night in a dream

I saw myself swimming in a river of youth

Coconut trees swaying in the wind

A few old Jiracanda trees shaded the path

I saw my father cultivating potatoes with a hoe

In the scorching heat of midsummer

Saw myself playing and running with friends

Then shooting marbles and river bathing

When the rain came, we headed to the fields

Hunting for crabs looking for prey on the rice paddies

Remember a day I played too long and returned home late

Clothes stained with dirt and Mom punished me with her switches.

My younger sister teased me, “you deserved it!”

Then she giggled and hid behind Mom.

Oh, those days of childhood

Thousands of unforgettable memories

But before I could grow up

I had to abandon my school years, leave the school far behind

Because the enemy from the north invaded

Adopting a foreign ideology that tramples on our homeland.

Starting a war that ravaged the country,

Making the nation destitute

Blood flowed like a river

Bones piled up like mountains

Then when the South was betrayed by allies

Millions had to risk their lives to escape from the country

Tens of thousands left their bodies in deep forests

Hundreds of thousands buried their lives in the sea

Nearly half a century under ruthless rule, corruption, and deceit

Creating a society of deceit and trickery

Human hearts turned malicious, minds twisted

Oh… Too heartbreaking for the River Dragon and Mountain Fairy's descendants!

Autumn has ripened

Leaves turned yellow, about to fall from branches

The indifferent wind will carry them far from their roots

The path to return to the homeland

Still remains faint and distant

Fear that the soul...

Will not be able to return to a dear and familiar place

The scenery suddenly blurs

Faintly, I hear the sound of coffee falling drop by drop

The space around me feels desolate

And my soul feels palish yellow.

A new day begins that seems already dusk.

by Yên Sơn

English translation by Vuong Thanh, 12.2023