THE WRITERS POST (ISSN: 1527-5467) the magazine of Literature & Literature-in-translation. VOLUME 11 NUMBER 1 JAN 2009

LUAN HOAN __________________________________________ a poem by LUAN HOAN translated by Thien Nhat Phuong Military operation from the heart should I use a stanza from the poems of Tran Dan or Phung Quan, to reply to a letter from my young brother living abroad asking how I live my life? I might as well write a poem to tell a story that’s difficult to tell. oh my poem will shine forever like the North Pole star and its mystical echo will be heard like a religious hymn oh brother I am now a blind soldier fighting a battle in the dark, a soldier who must use his own tears and blood to look at whoever I see to identify friends or foes to shoot with purpose, to kill instinctively. my hands hardened with shame cover my face full of remorse this is my youth. this is my life. everyone has the right to waste freedom. do I seem to be laughing resignedly? can you recognize your own beloved brother? I am now a blind soldier leading a deaf platoon, a whistle hanging from my lips ever ready throwing out hundreds of curses at my platoon with equal affection and concern. Do they understand what we’re up against? Oh my deaf platoon! In spite of grenades exploding they are yearning for a cock crow in the morning and burning with a desire for intimate talks. they advance and advance heroically toward the target not only one man to be killed, not only a hundred people to be killed. my whole platoon will be sacrificed, my whole people will be sacrificed. oh the target what is it indeed? is it what we need for eating? is it the flying flag symbolizing freedom? I’ve known what it stands for, how can I explain it to you? just because I am only a blind soldier leading a deaf platoon even with complete sanity I eventually will burn houses kill cattle and fowls shamelessly. like my troops we must live must eat must be brutal. we all act like that in battle. don’t you worry too much my dear brother. no time to talk to you about the life of a soldier in the combat zone, how they live, what they love and what they long for. I myself have turned into a pebble lying silently in our blue river and land. who would know, who would care, who would pity? we soldiers who dare not dream of being given affection and consolation. life or death is nothing oh my brother our mind focused only on the yellow flag flapping in the wind I am now a blind soldier of the ¼ Battalion Second Army Division whose only purpose is to eat, sleep and fight. this letter is for you Han, my young brother in exile. would you please hang on to my love � The Writers Post the magazine of literature & literature-in-translation, founded 1999, based in the US. VOLUME 11 ISSUE 1 JAN 2009 Copyright © Thien Nhat Phuong & The Writers Post 2009. Nothing in this magazine may be downloaded, distributed, or reproduced without the permission of the author/ translator/ artist/ The Writers Post/ and Wordbridge magazine. Creating links to place The Writers Post or any of its pages within other framesets or in other documents is copyright violation, and is not permitted. Return to Contents HOME