Viewing Cac-Co Cavern
Heaven and earth brought forth this rocky massits face cut by a deep crevassecrack's dark mouth shagged with mosspines rocking in wind rush.
Here sweet water spatters downand the path into the cleft is dark.
Praise whoever sculpted stonethen left it bare for all to see.
Here is another translation of the same poem:
Yin and Yang created this chunk of rock;
A deep and dark crack split it into two blocks.
Moss covered openings expose themselves with
Wind enhanced firs produce sound of rhythmic cadence.
Drops of romantic water fall with
Roads to nowhere lead in dark labyrinth.
Praise to the scuptor inventing this
Indecent exposure invites lots of observation.translated from the Vietnamese by John Balaban
Ho Xuan Huong
Other author posts
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Not a drop of rain for this dry heat Come, girls, let's go bail water Let's drag our delta-shaped buckets to that huge square field where our bodies can pulse to the water's lapping Crouched, straining to catch each trickle from the...
The Jackfruit
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To A Couple Of Students Who Were Teasing Her
Where are you going, my dear little greenhorns Here, I'll teach you how to turn a verse or two Young drones sucking at withered flowers, Little goats brushing horns against a fence
Three-Mountain Pass
A cliff face Another And still a third Who was so skilled to carve this craggy scene:the cavern's red door, the ridge's narrow cleft,the black knoll bearded with little mosses