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final final night

translated from the Vietnamese by Phương Anh

to whisper.the flowers await eagerly 
night holds onto the traveler’s feet.a wafting scent
butterfly wings flash.moon echoes.wind rises
a shadow is growing.the lingering agarwood? 

you bend to pick up your shadow that was dropped 
sky and earth convulse in all directions
destruction weighs on my shoulders.endless
human lives have left behind sediments.a bud of scent

that night.was it the final night?
i lie, listening.to the trees and leaves call each other 
the flock of small birds on the branches.stop.singing
hiding in the heart forever a soul enchanted!

 


 

Đêm tận tuyệt (final final night)

 

kể gì.những bông hoa ngóng đợi
đêm cầm chân lữ khách.một làn hương
cánh bướm chớp.vang lừng trăng.gió nổi
bóng ai về vời vợi quá. trầm vương?

em cúi nhặt bóng mình vừa rơi xuống
đất trời như kính động khắp nghìn phương
niềm hư hoại oằn vai.vô lượng
kiếp người vừa đọng lại.một chồi hương

đêm hôm ấy.có là đêm tận tuyệt?
tôi nằm nghe.cây lá gọi nhau về
bầy chim nhỏ trên cành.thôi.không hót
giấu trong lòng mai mãi một hồn mê!

Copyright © 2025 by Huy Tưởng. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 27, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.

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Huy Tưởng

Huy Tưởng
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About Poem-a-Day

Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. Randall Mann is the Guest Editor of August. Read or listen to a Q&A with Mann about his curatorial process, and learn more about the 2025 Guest Editors. Support Poem-a-Day.  

If you have any questions about Poem-a-Day, visit our Poem-a-Day FAQ.

Previous Poems

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to be considered before inviting everyone to The Cookout™ Rasheed Copeland 02/15/2019
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1000 Safia Elhillo 02/13/2019
When I Am a Hummingbird Alan Michael Parker 02/12/2019
Jakarta, January Sarah Kay 02/11/2019
On Joy and Sorrow Kahlil Gibran 02/10/2019
Albert Schirding Edgar Lee Masters 02/09/2019
Prayer Severing the Cycle Donte Collins 02/08/2019
Inevitable Mahogany L. Browne 02/07/2019
Spoiled Child Pages Matam 02/06/2019

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