WAITING? 

AREN'T WE ALL? 

Poem for Today - May 10, 2014

THE DESERTED CAFÉ

I go there vaguely thinking of a meeting,

Meeting whom I am not sure.

I go there, my heart dry as a hollowed out shell.

Thirst and hunger hang thick in the night.

In the afternoon the sun beats down hard ….

In the afternoon it rains and rains ….

The café is empty. The lamp shadows wait

Through the long nights for someone’s return.

It’s my own fault.

I’ve forgotten the date of the meeting.

Pity for the one returning. Pity for the one who waits

And no one comes.

Life is filled with errors.

Regrets change nothing.

We must grin and bear it.
Make the best of the journey.

In the afternoon the sun beats down hard …

In the afternoon it rains and rains ….

The café is empty, the lamp shadows

Wait a thousand years.

© To Thuy Yen

Translated from

the Vietnamese

by Nguyen Ba Chung

and Kevin Bowen