POETRY--ENGLISH Thơ Anh ngữ:
UYEN NICOLE DUONG copyright 2000
_____________________________
Leave your door open
tonight, ‘cause I will creep in
I’ll talk to your
heartbeat
Tales of the affair
between Paris and L’Indochine
I’ll breathe onto
your heart memories of girlhood
and paint onto your
mind images of what I once saw
of my beloved Paris
so when you roam the
city of love, city of lights, city of revolution,
nurturer of the
misfit, the rejected, the vagabonde
You will see what I
saw and embrace my soul
to find unison
in my beloved Paris
and when the morning
sun paints shadow upon your face,
Le depart, by sir who goes to Paris
Je t’ai apporte des bonbons, du chocolat, du
croissant, et du fromage
Tout le monde fait ca ici
in my beloved Paris
I once tiptoed along
the bank of La Seine, seeing lovers’
embrace
wishing I could grow
up so fast to make love to you
I once rolled upon
the wet leaves of Le Jardin de
Luxembourg,
longing for womanhood
when these leaves would turn into your caress
I once peeped inside
the boutiques de Champs Elysees
imagining me in
ligerie, high heels, and a Dior hat, devenir
ton amante
That time never came,
and somehow the affair of Paris and L’Indochine
turned into gunshots,
guillotines, airlift and evacuation
Somewhere between
Paris and L’Indochine, I lie
stoic and silent
awaiting you, still
Grandmere, from the soil of Southeast Asia I can still hear
you cry
Maman, agee et gentille, still talking of
everlasting love
Et toi, ma tante, tata, you and the glory
of your Vietnamese opera stage
Wake up, the women of
the East, from tomb, bed, stage, and dream
and tell me, how many
years has it been since I left your womb?
If I am to hear the
footsteps of love, why does it come so late?
Quand, qui, and comment dire
ce grand amour qui me dechire
So, sir who goes to
Paris, tear the sky of Paris for me,
rage over the horizon
of L’Isle de France
and rush, rush to me
grab, feel, and taste
and leave nothing
unsaid
Rush, rush against
time
horseman, boxer, L’avocat, conseil, man of the world
run up the steps of Sacre Coeur
bow to divinity, and
love me full as though tomorrow would soon be Apocalypse
down to Monmartre, capture my colors in the
artist’s eyes
and find, too, the
house of Dalida, upon her breath I sing
Besame, besame mucho
trace for me the
steps of Josephine Baker, upon her feet I dance
Samba samba samba comme le mambo mambo la
Reach for Notre
Dame’s Rose Window and picture Esmeralda through Quasimodo’s longing
Stroll through L’arc de Triomphe, triumph, please,
triumph over me
in the golden
sunshine of Paris (sparkling like les
cheuveux blonds of the Sorbonne girls),
you reign over me
like love itself
back to Quartier Latin, follow the church bells
of St. Germains des Pres,
gather for me, sir,
pieces of my girlhood
catch Buddha’s statue
in the house of the Vietnamese ladies of Pigalle
on the cleavage of Moulin Rouge dancers
glance inside Sartre’s cafe, Deux Magots, where
life and hell are both here, Huit Clos No
Exit
and move on, my love,
reviens, reviens, and blind yourself
unto me once more, in me love’s no exit
But when the moon
hangs over La Tour Eiffel
When all lights die
out on Le Theatre de Moliere
Out on L’avenue de L’Opera, the affair between
Paris and L’Indochine has ended
you return to L’Hotel Parisien, alone, sir who has
gone to Paris
Look, look, my love
somewhere in a dark
alley, at the end of a long and narrow corridor,
I may be lying,
hopeless and breathless,
Lips apart, limbs
abandoned
lusting love, loving
lust
awaiting
you, still
Viens, viens, mon amour, vite et tout de suite
Come to me, with
cuffs, feather, bonds and bondage
to complete my being
and rewrite for me
girlhood from its beginning
UYEN NICLOE DUONG copyright 2000, 2002
FIRST PUBLISHED:
·
THE WRITERS POST (ISSN: 1527-5467),
the magazine of Literature & Literature-in-translation.
Pensive, marker & enamel on paper, DNN C2010
