National reconciliation:

ROUGH ‘QUESTIONS – ANSWERS’

AND A LATE JOSS-STICK

Original (poem): Trần Xuân An

 

question: “you had been an anti-communist soldier,

but, why had you relied on the French enemy, colonialist,

               to fight against us?”.

 

answer: “because the red was the atheistic rebel, foreign aggressor,

               with their atheism;

because, there was no reason why had we expelled the elephant

               to receive in style the tiger!

because the USA interventionist was one of the allied countries,

               with the Human Rights;

               the Human Rights did not educate everybody feud, 

               denounce publicly;

because the Yellow flag was the yellow of dynasty

               which had enlarged the Southern,

               the Dang Trong (the ‘Inside’ Part of our Fatherland)”.

 

read extract of that report on an interrogation

felt heartfelt, but it had seemed obstinate

an educator-warden of the defeated army’s remnants said:

                “the puppet was suchlike!”.

 

since that time, about thirty years had passed,

burnt joss-stick on mound of a defeated soldier prisoner’s grave,

               behind that old re-education camp,

repented about victim of an injustice, he let two words slip out his mouth

                “nation destiny!”,

               and he cried with sobs.

 

 

Morning, 23 Nov 2014

Translation (meaning): T.X.A., 03 Dec 2014.

 

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Hòa giải dân tộc:

THÔ MỘC HỎI – ĐÁP

VÀ NÉN HƯƠNG MUỘN

ROUGH ‘QUESTIONS – ANSWERS’

AND A LATE JOSS-STICK

Trần Xuân An

 

hỏi, sao ông chống cộng

lại dựa vào giặc Pháp, thực dân?

 

(question: “you had been an anti-communist soldier,

but, why had you relied on the French enemy, colonialist,

               to fight against us?”.)

 

đáp, vì đỏ là giặc vô thần, ngoại bang

vì chẳng lẽ đuổi voi rước hổ

vì can thiệp Mỹ là đồng minh nhân quyền

nhân quyền không giáo dục căm thù, đấu tố

vì cờ vàng là màu vàng rộng mở phương nam, Đàng Trong

 

(answer: “because the red was the atheistic rebel, foreign aggressor,

               with their atheism;

because, there was no reason why had we expelled the elephant

               to receive in style the tiger!

because the USA interventionist was one of the allied countries,

               with the Human Rights;

               the Human Rights did not educate everybody feud,

               denounce publicly;

because the Yellow flag was the yellow of dynasty

               which had enlarged the Southern,

               the Dang Trong (the ‘Inside’ Part of our Fatherland)”.)

 

xem trích đoạn biên bản

thấy chân thành, sao dường như ngông

anh quản giáo tàn binh: bọn ngụy là vậy đó

 

(read extract of that report on an interrogation

felt heartfelt, but it had seemed obstinate

an educator-warden of the defeated army’s remnants said:

                “the puppet was suchlike!”.)

 

sau ba mươi năm

thắp hương cho nấm mồ, sau trại tù thuở nọ

đau xót nỗi oan xưa, bật ra hai từ vận nước, khóc ròng.

 

(since that time, about thirty years had passed,

burnt joss-stick on mound of a defeated soldier prisoner’s grave,

               behind that old re-education camp,

repented about victim of an injustice, he let two words slip out his mouth

                “nation destiny!”,

               and he cried with sobs.)

              

T.X.A.

sáng 23-11 HB14 (2014)

Translation (meaning): T.X.A., 03 Dec 2014