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UYEN
NICOLE DUONG
_______________________________
TWO
SONGS FOR SEAN
To Sean, who does not like poetry, for our
last night in the mountains
And the unconditional caring you gave
during a time I blinded myself, lured
away, in search for image of the
homeland
Uyen Nicole Duong
February 2005
One
The woman you love
She takes a shower tonight
to wash away her sorrow.
all her wounds have just been healed
the shape remains the same
water running down her side
reminding her of something you said
mat hanh nhan long lanh ngan le
tren da
nui doi dong dua mau nhiet
doi
tearful
almond eyes sparkling in the dark
on bronze
skin, hilltops and mountain caves, tropical colors
all gone now
she wants to send you the following:
are you too afraid to
try?
too old to conquer?
too coward to
take the beating?
can you look down your antiquated soul
finding in almost a hundred years
a culture that causes you to bleed
and tell yourself truly
you no longer love her?
no longer need her?
no longer wanting to take her home
and wipe away her
tears?
and make her feel whole
and do right this time
Or
simply
on valentine's day
you'll run away
to some park
and watch the birds kiss
and tell yourself
you are safe...
deliver your words to her:
for her
I don't want to be safe
Two
The upkeeps
Remember today
Her tempest
severing
her from you
Are you too scared to pick up the pieces
and mend them whole?
she has sent back all your things
the upkeeps
keep them on some shelf
memories of days past
one does not throw away memories
the things you gave
too little to occupy a space
she wants your tales
your openness
your integrity
your honesty
your pain
your anguish
your years
your present
your past
all she ever got
were just the things you sent
too little to occupy a space
or bind her to you
so you've got to hold on
a space on the shelf
and return them
when she stops by one day
to claim what was once hers
when time is due
and fate is near
before your final sleep
UYEN
NICOLE DUONG
·
THE WRITERS POST (ISSN:
1527-5467),
the magazine of Literature & Literature-in-translation.
VOLUME
7 ISSUE 1 JAN
2005
Editorial
note:
Works published in this issue may be simultaneously published in the printed Wordbridge Magazine Issue 6 January 2005 (ISSN:
1540-1723).
Copyright © Uyen Nicole Duong 1999-2005. Nothing in
this issue 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.
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