THE WRITERS POST (ISSN: 1527-5467) the magazine of Literature & Literature-in-translation. PREMIER ISSUE VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1 JUL 1999

DOAN PHU TU _______________________________ THE COLORS OF TIME Translated by NGUYEN NGOC BICH This morning, the birds songs are crystal clear                           in the clear blue sky                 A warm perfume hangs in the air, like a breath of                           spring love                 Bringing back to life memories of a thousand                           year past                 O Princess of Ch' in, I silently offer this to you --                 A warm perfume, dyed deep in the course of time,                           in the air ...                 The colors of time are blue, light blue                 The colors of time are purplish, a vast purple blue                 The perfumes of time are not excessive                 The perfumes of time are just right                 "A downy locket, cut with a golden knifelet                 "A thousand times shyly I offer it to you, my lord                 "As I must leave you in this lifetime, bearing no                           grudge                 "I should rather cast down my eyes, having                           betrayed you."                 The love of one life time is suddenly broken                 But an instant of love is enough to linger a lifetime... Translated by NGUYEN NGOC BICH (This English translation version has been published in Songvan magazine [ISSN 1089-8123, discontinued in 2000], issue 11, Sept 1997, which is under the same ownership and editorship of The Writers Post’s publisher and editor N. Saomai / Nguyen Sao Mai). · THE WRITERS POST (ISSN: 1527-5467), the magazine of Literature & Literature-in-translation. Copyright © 1999 The Writers Post. Nothing in this website may be downloaded, distributed, or reproduced without the permission of the author/ translator/ artist/ and The Writers Post. 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. The Writers Post Jul. 1999 Return to Contents HOME