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[Doi Dien] We Meet One Another
We Meet One Another
Le Quang Tuan (translated by Nguyen Quoc Vinh)
We meet one another
halfway on the path of life
by chance
as if only the two of us remain
those four eyes keep gazing into one another
sharing a past so laden with dust
and time
quietly returns
blowing up in a whirl vague recollections
we lie next to one another
like dried wood waiting for fire
amidst burnt ashes of a cold hearth soaked in night dew.
We meet one another
by chance on the dance floor
Techno music thrashes about, smashing the serene void
the two of us:
two guys
swaying amidst a pack of guys
thorny weeds sporting sharp blades
we compare our lives, then burst into laughter at small talks
about those nights - afternoons - evenings -- mornings ...
doodling
dawdling
ponderously we push back the rock of life
like Sisyphuses on a lost path, in the wrong century.
We meet one another
halfway through the drama
the intermission is over but why aren't any of the artists returning?
the theater opens wide
full of trash
now there are only two left
leaning on two corners
we stand looking at one another
both feeling sorry for the fingers without rhythm
fingers piteously clinging to one another
solitary fingers
crooked fingers
bare fingers (yet to wear even once a ring)
lamenting fingers
desirous fingers
... that seek a dream of blissful union long dead some night ago.
We meet one another
hesitant with words
back turned toward the sun
we suddenly come tumbling down
through the sieve of the universe
if we can't hold on to one another's life
why do we let pain and sorrow
mix with every drop of love
dripping down ...
dripping down ...
dripping down ...
[Doi Dien #2 (Spring/Summer 1994), p. 16]
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