Nguyễn Thị Phương Trâm

Exposed was the night

Gulping the last drop of the season in consolation
Night leaning into a light sleep

Burnt the secret code
As the day long desolation danced

Next to you

Next to you on a rainy day
the sky is filled with sudden sunlight
flowers leaning in sweet adoration
easy whispers of love

Next to you on a stormy day
a rainbow would appear in yearning from both ends
budding from the smallest of things
my love

Yes next to you on a sunny day
in our hearts discerns the pitter-patter of falling rain
blooms of antigonon
in the wind would shatter

When I’m not next to you…

I viewed you

I viewed you with 1/2 an eye
Grey sky
On the tip of my tongue were the words “pillow princess”
Calling upon autumn

I viewed you with 1 eye
Witnessed flying were the returning excuses
Wilting flowers yellowing in distant fields
Night momentarily mending the seasons with sack cloths

I viewed you with 2 eyes
With fresh flowers and green grass
Virtual sweet eyes honey on plump red lips
Forever a hummingbird

I viewed you
Through the eyes of a nemesis
A horizon red at dawn
Through your eyes saw the other side

A woman upon dusk

A collection of sadness on her sleeves
Accepts loneliness from the bottom of her heart the desires
Hesitant
Faltering
Tentative
A woman
Brought forth yearning upon dusk
Weaving a hammock of clouds
Eddies of an endearing lullaby

Please speak not of today’s sunset
It’s like tea brewed the day before
Moody
Brooding
Speak not of this woman
As the faltering heart of a leaf falls upon dusk

Please measure not loneliness with yearning
A woman’s breath have touched upon the afternoon
The moon’s heart
Speak not of the streets
Purple with crepe myrtle
Cicadas will be loss for word
Easter lilies calling upon the summer
A woman taking the hold of the dusk

Last night’s kiss

a kiss left behind upon the leaves damp with dew
I’m peeling off each thoughtful verse waiting for the light
the wind rushing kisses upon the branches
I’ve have but left you for a moment
                                         and it feels like forever

last night
the moon couldn’t sleep
                  haunted by the kisses
hence this morning
             it’s all googly eyed perched on top of the buildings

last night
the mosquitoes overwhelmed by the scent of lilies marched across the verandah
they have no thought of biting
they were solemn
as we kissed each other

last night
the golden leaf has no desire of falling
pumping its chest up
           inhaling
   the shades of chlorophyll

last night
I’ve replaced my blood with yours
the world inside me
          spinning
                     there’s no more day or night

The birds have lost their mind

they forget their own voice
tongue tied
they’re void of the memory of moonlit nights
thinking it’s daylight
mid the night shivering in the icy wind
disorientated by the midday storm
the fallen leaves
hallucinating apparitions of their divine ancestors
mid the night
the call of an owl
the bird call eerie in waves
yearning for the origin
void of feather plucking
shitty eaves
in hate spy on one another
on the other side, the edge of enlightenment
on this side a reedy bank
overhead the breeze
in a thousand years, the earth spins still
the chicken scuffling
the roster turning
we shall tell each other how the Sun is death
there is nothing left of our mind but dreams

Much ado about nothing

Yeah, it’s much ado about nothing
So sad that’s it’s depressing
Thoughts of today mixed up with tomorrow’s
The present overwhelmed by old sorrows

The homeland in our dreams
Awake in a thousand dreams it seems
Life is a list of unfortunate events
The clinging dust and muck never ends

To live a lifetime to then forget
The bloody yearning the aching beget
Death preferred
Hence, life in parts shorter

Happiness can be rather tedious
Shortening one’s life it’s obvious
Endearment does not equates to love
Nor love equates to all the above

Dear God, such colourful lives
On one’s last breath, no mention of goodbyes
To truly live means nigh.