Long Phan Poems

Let Dust Blur The Pages
 
By Phan Tan Hai
     
Let's close the pages, where the dreams still linger
let pen and ink flow the lines of poetry on their own
words written down...

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I.

Oh please, not to fade so fast into the afternoon
The one that is scattering in a goldenly swooning loneliness
The one that is shattering at a purply time of faintness
And the one whose wind is playing...

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I sit breathing, feel the breaths in and out,
know the breaths long and short, wish the peace 
for heaven and earth, wish for soothing seasons 
of rain and wind, and wish for all to have...

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The Bandits Rendezvous
By Franklin Price
9/1/2019

Once upon, a Far East time, in nineteen sixty eight
The GEEIA squad made history on a non-remembered date
The plan had come together to build a club house new
When it was completed,...

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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...

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It was January '68
Chapter 2 – Phan Rang - 1st TDY
by Franklin Price
3/5/2019

Raking sand got old real soon
Was not why I came to war
My job was not for combat
The reason why I thought was more

Before...

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Vietnam was Fifty Years Ago
By Franklin Price
8/30/2018

Vietnam was fifty years ago
Around the world across the sea
God went with me on tour
Now it's just a memory

The Air Force was my service branch
Ground navigation was my field
...

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Encrypting Your Name With Verse

By Phan Tan Hai

you can’t see your name between the lines
I put it on paper 
words from days and months
that have almost vanished
and see again among the
secret words
your face is stealthily appearing
chilling...

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I live in a town where all things go in
reverse. The bushes grow reversely,
shrink smaller back into seeds, and roll back
into the past-life seeds. The river flows

reversely, very swiftly. My friends,
my nephews and nieces, my...

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I sat in nostalgia

By Phan Tan Hai

I sat, looking across the sky at flowers and leaves. 
You walked quietly into the moonlight, 
filling the sky with light, 
and gently breathed into my soul.

I sat in...

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Not many words left for you
my lips become icy
days and nights freeze on my skin, 
on my head, on my shoulders, 
on my back, and on every strand of white hair tonight... 

New year comes...

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Having suffered years of grueling tyranny, 
Sand is still red which should be tawny. 
Iraq has become a land of widows 
Men are cruely killed there in rows. 

Due to war when families are separated,...

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Having suffered years of grueling tyranny,
Sand is still red which should be tawny.
Iraq has become a land of widows
Men are killed there in rows.
Due to war when families are separated,
Children are those who are worst...

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On the paper at midnight
my writing hand feels tired
lines of poetry get blurred with fog

and my soul rolls
alongside the ink lines
unstoppable

farewell now
my writing hand gets so tired

saying farewell to you
the poet
with lines of words 
flowing...

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you, this young lady
please keep really silent
on every step you walk
gently, please
just listen to every corner of the temple
where the wind from the ancient meditation forest whispers 
and recites the way of Buddha sitting soundlessly...

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How could I write about a time 
when I saw the wind 
and knew that your hair was so short,
when I saw the dry sunshine 
and knew that your cheek color was so pale,
and when...

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Let me catch sight of you in this 
life and in others, where your face 
hovers in the spring, summer, 
autumn and winter, when your black 
eyes twinkle along the curved 
words I have found...

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