Written for the Flute: Mai Văn Phấn’s Poetry

I blow into the dark-as-hell hollow of a flute to discover the seven ways to paradise: do re mi fa sol la ti.
Each scale flaps its wings and flies away, gliding into the mysterious glittering seven-color light. Those shadows bear the shape of the flute. Soon I will put my lips to each shadow and blow.
Leaving the bass section, they fly, and then release a myriad of pitches into the night. I hear laboring footsteps of night echoing, as it leans on the octaves to ascend.
A muted universe is hanging in the night. Tender waves let the shadows know to wake up in the morning and meet the light.
Each dark corner inside me is sucking on sounds, like sucking on a mother’s breast, and from my half-open mouth, light slowly streams in.

(Trans. by Nhat-Lang Le. Edited by Susan Blanshard)

Ditulis untuk Seruling: Puisi Mai Văn Phấn

Aku meniup ke dalam rongga seruling yang gelap seperti neraka untuk menemukan tujuh jalan menuju surga: do re mi fa sol la ti.
Setiap skala mengibaskan sayapnya dan terbang menjauh, meluncur ke dalam cahaya tujuh warna yang misterius berkilauan. Bayangan-bayangan itu membawa bentuk dari seruling. Segera aku akan menempatkan bibirku pada setiap bayangan dan meniup.
Meninggalkan bagian bass, mereka terbang, dan kemudian melepaskan berbagai nada ke dalam malam. Aku mendengar langkah-langkah malam yang berat bergema, saat ia bersandar pada oktaf untuk naik.
Sebuah alam semesta yang redup tergantung di malam hari. Gelombang-gelombang lembut memberi tahu bayangan-bayangan untuk terbangun di pagi hari dan bertemu dengan cahaya.
Setiap sudut gelap di dalam diriku sedang menghisap suara, seperti mengisap payudara ibu, dan dari mulutku yang setengah terbuka, cahaya perlahan mengalir masuk.

(Terjemahan bahasa Indonesia oleh Bambang Kariyawan Ys)

Vietnamese poet Mai Văn Phấn was born 1955 in Ninh Bình, Red River Delta in North Vietnam. Currently, he is living and writing poems in Hải Phòng city. He has published 16 poetry books and 1 book “Critiques – Essays” in Vietnam. 30 poetry books of his are published and released in foreign countries and on Amazon’s book distribution network.
Poems of Mai Văn Phấn are translated into more than 40 languages.
Mai Văn Phấn has won a number of Vietnamese and international literary awards, including:

• The Vietnam Writers’ Association Award in 2010;
• The Cikada Literary Prize of Sweden in 2017;
• The Award of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2019;
• The Literary award from Association of Literary Translators of Montenegro in 2020;
• Twice won the Golden Pen Literature Award of Russian Federation in 2019;
• The Award Aco Karamanov of North Macedonia in 2020;
• 1st Prize in The International Creative Meeting and Festival “Together in the XXI Century” in Bulgaria 2020;
• The medal Alisher Navoi of the Union of Writers and Historians of Central Asia in 2021;
• Winner of Sahitto (Bangladesh) International Award for Literature 2021;
• The Award of Newspaper Kitob Dunyosi (Uzbekistan) in 2021;
• The Award of the International Slavic Literary Forum “Golden Knight” 2022;
• The Poetry Collection of Year Award of Boao International Poetry Award (China) in 2022 (for the Poetry Collection “Улетел на рассвете”);
• The Award of the International Poetry Competition “My heart in the Mountains” named writer William Saroyan (Armenia) in 2022;
• The Frederick Turner prize of Mundus Artium Press (USA) for Poetry in 2023;
• The Award of the International Literary online Competition “To you, Nesvizh, I dedicate …” (Belarus) in 2023.