Poem For Little Birds

I know you will come

Like birds’ songs in the human forest

I do not know the reason

You’ve chosen this path –

A journey of woe and pain

Perchance in a tiny fraction of time

Sunlight was born

From the sun’s red teary eyes

Faith came from the innocence of children’s songs

Sung by boys herding their buffalos on the dry grass

And you… by following the call of the wind

You’ve come

In the drifting dreams of mine

I feel the mother’s body like the Queen of the Night

Moving step-by-step with the rhythm of time

She blooms gloriously in darkness

And you are the golden silk threads of her heart, exuding fragrance

Of love

And in the secrecy of my dreams

I saw you ride the wild wind

And land below

You were so proud on high, now on earth your first cry burst forth

Your first tears would nourish the green buds

Life would flourish because of you

And because of you I’d know

Of rebirth

When the city joyously put on a new coat

And things would go on thanks to you

You’ve come despite the insanity of it all

Flowers blossomed from the blood drops of sundown

Fire resumed from the grey ashes

Lessons of humanity continue

From generations to generations

From one misery to the next

And you… do not ask yourself if it was for pain or for love

But march on… bravely march on, rain or shine

There are arrows with no directions

The wind can change from a gentle breeze to be angry, sad, cold, or rough

There are limits to what one can do

A smile can be seen on the lips of the dead

While the living can walk around spiritless

Let’s not think about it

Life is an olio to chew on

Which can paralyze the tongue, bleed the lips, or destroy the teeth

One may need to stop chewing

And start all over with a detox

Perhaps there is no other choice

Do come when you’re ready

Just do not utter hateful words while wearing human skin

But be sweet like a songbird

Singing love songs

Without anger or hatred

Without doubts or deceit

Life will soon enough give you

Stormy nights

Translated from Thơ Cho Chim Nhỏ - Nguyễn Thị Thanh Bình

November 2016

THƠ CHO CHIM NHỎ

Ờ rồi thì con cũng sẽ đến

Như tiếng chim kêu trong cánh rừng nhân gian

Ôi làm sao ta biết được lý do nào

Con đã chọn cuộc đời

Làm chuyến hành trình khổ não

Có thể trong một khoảnh khắc tình cờ

Nắng cũng đã được sinh ra

Từ đôi mắt đỏ lệ của mặt trời

Niềm tin khai sáng từ những tiếng hát đồng

dao ngây thơ

Của những mục tử quẩn quanh bờ cỏ cháy

Và con… thôi hãy vì những tiếng gió reo

trên cây

Mà đến

Trong những cơn mơ bồng bềnh

Ta thấy thân xác người mẹ như đóa quỳnh

Xê dịch từng nhịp thở thời gian

Đêm nở bừng khai hoa

Và con cao khi là lòng nhụy tơ nõn tỏa

hương kỳ diệu

Của tình yêu

Cũng trong những giấc mơ bí mật

Ta thấy con cỡi trên những bạt ngàn của gió

Mà đáp xuống

Con kiêu hãnh như thế sao phải vì trần

gian mà khóc

Ơi những hạt rụng nước mắt đầu đời đã

cấy lên những mầm xanh

Sự sống từ đây sẽ nhờ con mà mọc

Ta cũng sẽ nhờ con mà biết được

Ngày tháng hồi sinh

Thành phố rộn ràng thay áo mới

Tất cả sẽ vì con để tuần hoàn tiếp diễn

Con cứ đến mặc cho thế giới đang dở

chứng cuồng điên

Hoa nở từ những giọt máu sót lại của

hoàng hôn

Những ngọn lửa khơi dậy từ những tàn tro

Bài học yêu thương nhân loại vẫn cứ rền

rền rao giảng

Từ thế hệ cha đến thế hệ con

Từ những tím bầm này đến những tím bầm nọ

Và con… xin đừng hỏi tôi sinh ra để khởi

sự đau thương hay yêu thương

Cứ bước tới… hãy mạnh dạn đến bên cuộc

đời dù nắng mưa bất thường

Có những mũi tên vô tình không định hướng

Có những cơn gió dịu dàng, phẫn nộ, vui,

buồn, lạnh, chướng

Có những giới hạn của con người

Có những người chết mới ngậm cười

Có những người sống chẳng khác đười ươi

Có cần gì phải thắc mắc trời ơi

Cuộc đời một món xào thập cẩm

Cố nhai đi nhai lại chỉ tổ làm tê lưỡi / rụng

răng / rướm máu môi

Sẽ có lúc không buồn nhai nữa

Con người và cuộc đời đều cần đến món

thuốc xổ

Đành rằng sẽ không còn một sự lựa chọn

nào khác

Nên con cứ đến ừ thì con cứ đến

Nhưng xin con đừng tập nói tiếng loài ác

thú đội lớp người

Hãy cứ líu lo như chim nhỏ

Bài hát tin yêu

Không vướng mắc hận thù

Không nghi ngờ giả dối

Rồi cuộc đời sẽ dạy cho chim

Giông bão.

A Weekend

Right after I’ve read, considered, and deleted an email offer for two nights of hotel stay somewhere in our capital city of Washington DC at a good discount, Tom called and asked, “Would you like to stay in a hotel for two nights?” I was dumbstruck and could only utter a tentative “Why?” It turned out that Tim, our friendly neighbor, somehow had an empty and already-paid-for room in a local hotel due to an early departure of one of his clients’. Tom explained that we’d check in on the same day and can stay for two nights. I said, “Yes.”

When Tom confirmed that it was a go, he didn’t give me much time to pack. I quickly assembled a weekend worth of clothing and accessories. On the way out, I thought of my camera but decided against it, figuring it was time for me to try to take more photos with my iPhone.

It was just a right time to spend two nights away from home in a local hotel. A few days earlier, it was Tim who heard and alerted us to a racket our outside A/C unit made. Tom turned the unit off and made a call to a company recommended by our online Nextdoor neighborhood community. Then he took off to take our out-of-town relatives on a sight-seeing trip and left me home alone to deal with the HVAC technician. When the technician quoted a $1k price tag to fix the unit, I figured it was time to retire it, given that it had served us well for 20 years and that someone had recommended its replacement three years earlier and its life expectancy is less than 20 years. Ron said I should replace the heating unit at the same time. I said perhaps I should replace the water heater as well. Ron agreed. He sent his boss over to give me an estimate. Before Carl gave me the estimate, he asked when I would decide on the new system. It might not have been the best response, but I said, “Right away because I don’t have A/C.” I didn’t have time to shop around. I just hoped we had picked the right company. Carl assured me he gave me a great deal and that I’d love his company. He didn’t rush off but spent time talking. It was strange that we, two strangers on a business transaction, talked politics on our first meeting, but we did. As we talked, I sensed that we were not totally on the same wavelength, but it was okay. Carl seemed to be a nice guy.

For a few days since Ron and Carl came, Tom and I were without the full service of our A/C. We had the fan on. The A/C unit is not yet completely dead, so I turned it on occasionally before Tom would turn it off again. The indoor temperature was somehow bearable. I don’t know if Tim knew we were without an A/C, but if we needed to pick a perfect time to spend in a local hotel room, this was it.

When we got to our hotel, we didn’t even have to wait in line. We were recognized as Tim’s guests and were given the keys to our room on the fourth floor. From our room, we could see the theater we once had season tickets for and the surrounding restaurants. We went to a restaurant we knew and had a “love boat,” which is a combination of maki, nigiri, and sashimi. After dinner, we got ourselves gelato for dessert at a gelato store. Back to our room, we relaxed with chocolates, vlahovac, and limoncello brought from home. Tom was excited that we were going to sleep under a blanket, and we did.

Tom was going to skip his morning run with his running partner, but when Didier suggested to change it to Sunday, their off day, Tom felt guilty and went back to running. Tom got back from running before breakfast was served. We decided to chill out and do things we would not normally do. After breakfast, we went to the Reston Farmers’ Market. The market opens at 8 a.m. and we approached it around 8:15 a.m. Cars were already parked on the streets and extended 2-3 blocks away on each side of Lake Anne Plaza. We didn’t even try the Lake Anne parking lot, but drove on and parked a few blocks away on a side street. Tom thought there got to be something else going on, but the traffic was truly just for the Farmers’ Market. That is amazing. We took our time at the market. We sat at the lake for a while, snapping pictures and enjoying the view. Tom held conversations with a few vendors and people carrying petitions for Reston residents to sign. I fulfilled my plan to buy at least one item from the market. I got a basil plant and a soap bag. Afterwards, we went to a nearby park and ate some of the peaches Tom bought. Tom found a chess table and wanted to pretend to be thinking of a move. He currently plays on-line chess with two people.

My phone stopped working while we were at the park. We went back to the hotel so we could refresh ourselves, put the basil plant and peaches away, and see if my phone needed charging. Then we checked out the brewery that Tim told us about. We were hoping to have lunch at the brewery. But when we got there, we were amazed at the line of customers, which wrapped around a corner and as far as we could see, to another corner of the complex. We asked a guy who was pulling a cooler full of beer to his car about the wait. He said he was in line at 9:45 a.m. The brewery opened at 11 a.m. and it was after noon at the time. We didn’t think any beer was worth waiting in line for. We discovered a vegetarian restaurant and had lunch there.

We wanted to visit the Reston Nature Center in the afternoon. We had not been to the Nature Center since it was rebuilt. On the way to Reston, we swung by the brewery again to see if there was still a line. It was about 12:45 p.m. and there was no more line. The brewery doesn’t sell food, only beer. They release only one kind of beer at a time. We were told each of us was limited to three four-packs and it costs $17 a pack. Tom said one pack is enough, thank you very much. Tom couldn’t understand why people stood in line for more than two hours to spend $17 on a 4-pack of beer. As I said something about next time, something like we’d know when to show up, Tom interrupted me with “There will be no next time.” Although Tom complained about the price tag, he admitted it was a very good beer when we split a 16-oz can for dinner later.

The Nature Center closed at 1 p.m., but we got there just in time to get a map of the trails. We took one of the trails to Lake Audubon. There’s a pretty pond at the Nature Center with many dragon flies. I wished I had my camera then. I couldn’t capture the dragon flies with my iPhone. Then we took a cross-county trail that Tom remembers from the time we lived in Reston. The tall trees gave us shade and it was a nice day to hike. The trail was very narrow and we figure we’d suffer later if any of the plants along the path were poison ivy.

After the hikes, I took a nap while Tom went to the pool. We liked lunch so much that Tom went back to the same place to buy dinner. He brought the food back to our hotel room which has a kitchenette. The beer was great with the spicy Indian food. Afterwards, we curled up in bed and finished up our vlahovac and limoncello while watching television.

It was a nice unexpected vacation. It’d be perfect if I could tell you we had a new A/C when we got home. However, I can tell you that it was 72 degrees as we pulled the car into our garage at 8:15 a.m. and that was not bad - not bad at all.

Collage#40

Childhood in summer

Gives us so many offers

Such as watching a sunset

Under an orange sky

Or being read to

While snuggling up close

Or going down a slide

Holding on to each other

Or helping Milli

Get out of the pool

After she did a great job

In her own swim sessions with Miss Cathy

Or gobbling up a giant

Dish of sushi

When I was so hungry

At Imperial Palace

To celebrate

The end of my swim season

Or kissing Allison

Who’s Mother’s cousin

Or splashing around

In the cool water

Of the swimming pool

Of Ocean Vista

In North Carolina

With third cousins

Coming from Virginia

Arms around each other we strolled

Down the path to the bay in Corolla

While reminding Mother

To be nice to her own

At the beach we buried ourselves

While Milli played in the sand

Laughing like we’d been friends

Since before time began

We had so much fun

That I even forgot

To ask Bà to read me

Her many children’s ebooks

She’d loaded on her iPad

Just for me

But at Mother’s insistence

And the lure of a candy prize

It’s not hard to see why

I did not neglect

My swimming practices

With Coach Ông’s help

I hope the rest of the summer

Will go swimmingly well

As the time we had

In North Carolina