Thanh

Thanh Mar 2019

Nhật lạc Hàn giang, thủy hỏa thành,
Vân phi hướng viễn, an Ngưu canh.
Huỳnh Long xuất thủy, Thần Ngư tẩm,
Vọng Nguyệt thăng thiên, nhị thủ phanh.

As the sun sinks into the Hàn river, water and fire follow one another,
Clouds move to the distant horizon while the serene buffalo ploughs.
The Yellow Dragon emerges from waters and the Divine Carp submerges,
Gazing at the moon ascending the sky, the two hands held eachother.

Simple Đường luật in Hán Việt.
1 - The Hàn river is the river flowing in Đà Nẵng.
2 - The buffalo is an animal bounded to the rural vietnamese tradition.
3 - The Yellow Dragon is the famous bridge that spits fire or water situated in the city. The Divine Carp is a reference to the legend that sees a brave carp becoming a Dragon after having surpassed a waterfall (Gate of Yu) upstream.
4 - That evening I was with my girlfriend there, along the riverside.

Thanh Mar 2019

Sunset near Venice

Nhật mộ đồ cùng, quang ảnh dung,
Địa Thiên, thủy hỏa, hỗ tương phùng.

Lights and shadows melts at the sunset,
Heaven and Earth, Water and Fire, opposites attract.

Simple Đường luật in Hán Việt.

Thanh Mar 2019

L'eco della prima scintilla - The echo of the first spark

------ Translation ------

A distant flash broke the silence
And the breeze, having touched the quiet crowns,
Became fire:

Ash.

Along the lake shore
I gaze at the reflection of the sky:
Water, mirror of the universe!

And from the top of the world the still mountain watches

The eternal cycle accomplish:
Day and night alternating.

------ Original ------

Un bagliore lontano squarciò il silenzio
E la brezza, sfiorate le quiete fronde,
Divenne fiamma:

Cenere.

Lungo le rive del lago,
Scruto il riflesso del cielo:
Acqua, specchio dell'universo!

E dalla sommità del mondo il monte osserva inerte

L'eterno ciclo ultimarsi:
Giorno e notte alternarsi.

The whole poem is a reference to the Eight Trigrams:
- Zhèn: Thunder
- Xùn: Wind
- Lí: Fire
- Kūn: Earth
- Duì: Lake
- Qián: Heaven
- Kǎn: Water
- Gèn: Mountain

The order of the verses corresponds to the Later Heaven disposition of the Trigrams which represents the order of the "manifested world" that is the alternating cicle of life/death, day/night, seasons, 5 elements and so on.

I chose the title as well as the last two verses to give an hint: the "first spark" is the moment when from the primordial state of things, displayed by "Early Heaven" disposition of the Eight Trigrams where all the opposites are balanced and "static", the movement takes place giving birth to all things.

Thanh Mar 2019

My Dear Việt Nam

My Dear Việt Nam,

There's no day that I think
To the colors of your charm:
Hoàng, like the sun and the sand, the imperial domain;
Thanh, the green wilderness protecting your heart,
But not only that: the sea and the sky as heaven before my eyes;
Hồng, are the veins, the red flowing blood, that the soil has received, that the earth has consumed;
And the purity of lotus, born in the mud,
is painted in red but fading into Bạch.

The name of the colors are in Han Viet.

Thanh Mar 2019

ABYSS

As the dying sun sets beyond the horizon,
Darkness crawls into my heart;
Envy words and nothingness are like poison:
Murky clouds: a shroud set for my depart.

— The End —