The Blue Sky still shed leftover teardrops

Making the dress of Autumn soaked with rain

By the windowsill, the seasons passed by in silence

The moon no longer shines on a past love

Watching autumn in her glorious dress without interest

On a cloud path, a lonely bird flying, without care for the sights

The sounds of distant temple gongs pass into a dream

Causing reverberations across time and space. 

Who brings longings into the soul

To let autumn feel the sunset’s sorrow.

The color of maple leaves like the heart of a wandering exile

A red sky in the late afternoon touches an aching melancholy.

When we first met, I was a lonely person

Since our love broke, I’m like a nun

Praying in the temple, but forgetting the scriptures

I’m still thinking of you.

Wavering steps without a definite direction 

Fingers counting the praying beads in sad silence

If there wasn’t love and parting sorrow in human life

What would the meaning of Heaven be? 

Translated by Vuong Thanh, 2019