Coi Goi
One day the wind lifts me high
so I look down and see an ant
imprisoned in a multi-folder email box,
in a mobile phone ringing from time to time.
One day the wind lifts me high
so I look down and see a bird imprisoned in the praises of his flock,
in the limits of a sense of beauty pre-arranged.
One day the wind lifts me high;
the wind hands me a pair of wings
and tells me to free myself from wings
and fly above my thoughts.
Nguyen Phan Que Mai
trans. Bruce Weigl
i had a strange memory the other day
ReplyDeletethe memory of flying
i suppose it was
a memory of a dream
that perhaps i dreamt
a year or two ago
but in my half-waking state
a few mornings ago
the memory surfaced:
i used to be able to fly
didn't i?
i remembered it quite clearly
i was out in the desert
doing some field work
walking along
and the wind would pick me up
and carry me above the earth
not too high
just high enough to be a little scary
just high enough for me to wonder
is this normal?
can everyone fly like this?
short spurts of flight
alternating with a little jog
until taking a little leap
i was airborne again
for a dozen yards or so
before touching down again
to take another leap
when i remembered this
a few mornings ago
i really had a hard time
trying to figure out
whether it had all been a dream
or whether there really was a time
a few years ago
when i could fly
i didn't see any ants
trapped in cell phones though