October Song / Bài Ca Tháng Mười

October has come, do you miss our home village?

Do you remember our farewell meal in the late afternoon?

I plucked the rice paddy herbs 

And gathered the sesbania sesban flowers

To prepare the sweet and sour soup of our countryside.

Each afternoon I went to the riverbank, dreaming of your return.

Hiding my tears in a corner of my shirt. 

The silver-white water, just like the feelings in my heart.

A small rowboat floating on the river, like a melody of years bygone. 

When the moon returns to the tranquil riverbank,

The coconut trees let their hair down, combed by the wind's gentle touch.

My longing for you makes purple even the sparkling sunshine.

If you don't return, who will untangle the threads of love in my heart?

Ripe jackfruits fall by the roadside.

Do you recall the kerosene lamp, grandma used to light?

Crow pheasants calling in the far distance 

As the last light of dusk burns on the edge of the clouds.

Listen to the murmurs of the alluvial soil, telling tales of grass and trees.

The old river was as always, with its embankments and eroded banks.

The land still carries the memories of someone’s love. 

Water hyacinths drifting, deep purple with a vast and endless longing.