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Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
Just come along with me to the town 
where long time ago I bicycled, 
walked and ran about whenever
I wanted to smell the fragrance of Saigon

where I raised my hand  to salute the 
spirits while passing by the Lang Ong 
Shrine and bathing my body among the 
incense smoke drifting out over the 

streets and worming my way away from 
the crowds of fortune-tellers talking 
endlessly about their understanding of 
universe and keeping silent on their own. 

just come along with me to the town
where I said hello to people in the 
Ba Chieu Market where they yelled and 
boasted about their bargain prices

and always be prepared to load
all their stuff on their shoulders and
heads and run away from the police
and jump over all the walls on their ways

while scattering behind with sandals,
sunglasses and hats... while throwing 
into the sky their yells and screams – and you 
see now, those sounds still vibrate in my heart.

just come along with me to the town 
where I have left many parts of me 
onto  the dirt trails of Dong Ong Co
leading to my dharma uncle’s temple 

and please gently step into the village,
please softly move and try not to break the 
standstill air here, where you will see 
my footprints still visible around the altar

where decades ago I asked the old 
monk Thuong Chieu about the way of
Zen, and then he smiled – and now
I would surprise him when he first time sees

a lady walking beside me. My dear, please 
walk gently here in my unchanged 
village, where you will see the cows still
standing in the field with their heads staring

at the far-away sky, the birds still reaching 
high into the sky, the monk still sitting there
with his endless smile, and there the answer 
he gave me now still remaining in an original 

state: he threw a piece of tile against the wall 
and asked if I heard the sound and then said 
that that was the way of Zen – you now see 
that that piece of tile still remains floating in the air

just come along with me to the town
where everything stays unmoveable,
and unbreakable endlessly, where the 
monk and me live like the unmovable statues.

By Phan Tan Hai
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