Thank You, Mr. Veteran
You no longer have the feet
That used to glide on the dance floor
Your arms are here no more
So my sleepy head can meet
You no longer look quite human
But you are not yet a beast
But why on your lips spreads a smile
And your eyes are like two bright stars in the sky
You were in the days of yore
An angel in a red beret
You wore jumping shoes that I adored
While guiding the parachute against the wind
Were you of the local militia
So the village could sleep in peace
Or were you a Green Beret
Guarding the fort at the fighting front, really neat.
The motherland's ground has not sung you a lullaby
The war has ended, the flag is in tatters
You arms and feet now serve as fertilizer
For the blooming wild flowers
Once you were armed with grenades and knives
Now all you have is a begging cup
Yesteryear you put away pieces of artillery and tanks
Now into your cup are poured left-over soup and rice
In the past marched proudly you and thousands of comrades
The marching shoes made resounding sound all over town
Now you are separate from your former comrades
All alone in this corner of a local market
Twenty years came and went
Like an interrupted dream
All you have left is a broken body
That longs for days of former glory
November 22, 2013
Translated by
Wissai
canngon.blogspot.com
Follow-up:
Dear J:
You have made many good points. Thanks for raising them. Your intelligence showed in the points you made.
I was not disturbed by your raising them. The poem was meant to be a shocker. It was very cynical, but very true nonetheless. People did and do pay largely lip service to the sacrifices veterans made.
Being a soldier and then if you are lucky enough to be a veteran, and not a casualty, is to accept the sacrifices and not expecting gratitude. Expecting gratitude just invites pain and bitterness into your life. Life is not fair. Life is cruelty and indifference, largely. That's why loneliness is heavy and true love is such a balm and big in demand.
The original poem in Vietnamese is cruel and cynical but I like its eloquence, musicality, and unforgettable imageries.
Please allow me to share your points to a larger audience, with your identity kept intact.
Dear R.W.
I hate to say this but I don't like this piece Ta On Anh at all. It sounds terrible with "your arms and legs are now compost for the vegetables" and "now you are a nobody lying around regretting the glory of the past"
I am glad your translation made it lots better, but still, enough is enough. !!! : How dare they tell a war veteran that he does look neither a human, nor a beast !! Then what is he? Oh I am so angry !!! Who left the veterans eat leftovers and who left them begging at the market place? What do foreigners think of us and of Vietnam when they read that ? It is not nice to talk about the "before" and "after" without mentionning the why in between. Here, the veteran got into this degradation situation, being a degenerate person BECAUSE HE WAS DEFENDING OUR COUNTRY AGAINST THE ENEMIES WHO TRIED TO KILL HIM.
If this poem is aimed for getting the social services/ government to do something to help, then that would be another story, and I would understand; at the beginning we read that the woman has been sleeping with him then where is she now???? Would she leave him behind in this atrocious situation? Where is the TA ON ANH? I didn't hear anybody say "thanks, for having tried to save my life ?" Ok OK I am sorry I have disturbed you by dumping my trash in your sweet and gentle site. Please throw it away for me. I feel better now, but I still don't like them treating soldiers and veteran like waste. It was nice to see Omar and Castaneda : You are right on about Castaneda. Only the first and the fourth books were good. If I remember it right.
Take care and thanks.
J.
Wissai
On Nov 22, 2013, at 7:10 PM, wissai <wissai@yahoo.com> wrote:
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