Hue, Goodbye

Oh Hue, let’s say farewell.
Months and years of tender childhood,
And the rapidly passing teenage years,
Hue had cuddled, Hue had embraced me,
With the clean and fresh water of Huong Giang,
With songs and sounds of kite flutes, of rustling pine trees
Mixed with the sound of the ho from the ferries.
Truong Tien Bridge filled with ao dai Dong Khanh girls,
On the way back home in the afternoon, pedaling,
Then in the cool autumn evenings
No one tell, but steps increased in speed,
And the long winter days with north wind drizzles.
The bitter cold, freezes one’s feet,
Would pass though slowly, as they might
Return to Hue, the blue sky,
With birdsongs and blooming flowers of spring,
Then summer arrives Phuong flowers reddened the walking paths,
Of Quoc Hoc campus.

Tell me Hue, to never forget
Le Loi, Dong Ba, Gia Hoi,
And the small quarter that gets flooded every year,
Even ill-fitting shirts were difficult to obtain
they protect me from the strong cold winds.
In winter afternoons,
On the banks of Huong Giang, alone waiting
For the sound of Father’s boat, arriving
Or the evening, under the thatch roof, longing
For Mother, from the market returning,
Why does it close so late?
For anxiety filled my young, whole heart ,
Tell me Hue, please tell me
Huong Giang, will water be ever clear and fresh
So, the Dong Cat Fish up the river to reach Dai Dau
Make the evening meal delicious?

Tell me Hue, please tell me
One should hurry
So as not to miss the Trung Tien Bridge
At the appointed time for the date
At Van Lau gate
So that there would be no heart broken.\

Do say farewell.
Promised not to be sad.
But why would tears run in creases
When gray clouds fall on the way to the airport?

Edited by Elvira Nguyen, 2021