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Poem-a-day

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Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 250 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year.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

Title Author Date
Town Watches Them Take Alfonso Ilya Kaminsky 01/06/2017
The Time Machine Laura Kasischke 01/05/2017
Poem for My Son in the Car Jennifer K. Sweeney 01/04/2017
Age of Beauty Emilia Phillips 01/03/2017
Biking to the George Washington Bridge Alicia Ostriker 01/02/2017
Now Robert Browning 01/01/2017
Earthy Anecdotes Wallace Stevens 12/31/2016
Read Genesis Gerald Stern 12/30/2016
San Sebastian Spencer Reece 12/29/2016
Jack-in-the-Pulpit Kimiko Hahn 12/28/2016

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