What for pagoda’s pillars
What for moss-covered tiles
The neatly arranged tiles
Watching the clouds passing overhead
I wonder:
What for pagoda’s pillars
What for moss-covered tiles
To let the clouds pass hesitatingly
And my mind is sinking in the sluggish & dark zone
But I don’t know
where is that zone of sluggishness & darkness?
Wandering wandering
My feet don’t feel weary
Wondering wondering:
Pagoda’s pillars?
tiled roofs?
moss?
Wondering wondering:
Between the white hair old lady who chews the betel
And Hoi An
What is the difference?
While the life is passing hurriedly
Hoi An crouched besides the white hair old lady
What for pagoda’s pillars
What for moss-covered tiles
To let the streets immersed in sadness…
* Hoi An is the famous old town in central Vietnam
(Trans. by Hoang Hung)
