Why does winter arrive to make the moon look faint outside the window?

Half’s gone, half’s left heart-broken.

The northerly wind carries memories and longing.

Tears overflow on the single pillow from a melancholy soul.

Know that Life’s like a vast sea with many life-changing events.

Who remains, who is gone, causing sorrow for whom?

The more one tries to forget, the more one remembers.

Ask the moon, where is it now that it has set beyond the distant mountains?

 The moon, cold, returns to the mountains in the deep night

The water, cold, flows under the bridge with compassion

A person, alone and cold, feels the coldness of this whole world.

Oh love, oh homeland, just that much remains?

Go! But where, where is my home?

Time, tinted with a sad purple, continues to flow indifferently.

Why, my love, do you not wait just a while longer

But leave a person behind, loneliness fills her life.

We thought the return of love would keep the game ongoing

Who would have thought the boat sails out to sea once again

The Buddha has taken you to his house

A place of tranquility, no more suffering and no more pain.

People drink to drown their sorrows

While I have only a few clumsy verses

A few painful lines, full of resentment and sorrow

Replacing the stream of tears on a night of rain!

By Hoa Hướng Mặt Trời

English translation by Vuong Thanh, 12.2023