Nang Poems

The Unfortunate Plight of Women by Ho Xuan Huong - English Translation by Michael R Burch

Ho Xuan Huong (1772-1882) was a risqué Vietnamese poetess. She has been called "the candid voice of a liberal female in a male-dominated society." 

The Unfortunate Plight of Women
by Ho Xuan Huong
translation by Michael R. Burch

Hey sisters, do you know?
The baby bawls at your breast
While your husband slides onto your stomach.
Both demanding your attention,
Both endlessly

Categories: nang, baby, children, husband, sister,
Form: Free verse

Ho Xuan Huong English Translations from the Vietnamese

Ho Xuan Huong (1772-1882) was a risqué Vietnamese poetess. She has been called the BEST Vietnamese poet, a proto-feminist, and "the candid voice of a liberal female in a male-dominated society." 

?c Nh?i  ("The Snail")
by Ho Xuan Huong
translation by Michael R. Burch

My parents produced a snail,
Night and day it slithers through slimy grass.
If you

Categories: nang, animal, body, heart, nature,
Form: Free verse

Nang Nak

Last night I watched the movie “Nang Nak”;
the hero returns home after a war,
lives with the ghosts of his wife and child,
unaware they had perished while he was afar.

And then, when I turned around,
I saw only ghosts abound,
non-real beings, planets, stars,
all that my universe bore,
and, at last, my body and thoughts,
dancing apparitions in swirls,
frenzied dervishes

Categories: nang, film, i am, philosophy,
Form: Free verse

Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry

Hang and Nang

There once was a woman named Hang.
She frankly could not have given a dang.
She fought and she bit.
She slapped, and she hit.
This angry old woman named Hang.

There once was a gentleman named Nang.
His bark was much worse than his stang.
He punched and he slapped.
He pinched and he napped.
This angry old man name of Nang.

There once

Categories: nang, 1st grade, 3rd grade,
Form: Limerick

Da Nang, 1968: the Dance of Death

 DA NANG, 1968:  THE DANCE OF DEATH

 
That night I watched the muted flashes
Reflected off low somber clouds
And heard the muted rumble
Of distant artillery
As if a storm were approaching.

And I knew that somewhere
In the jungled hills out there
Uniformed figures flailed the air
In grotesque dances of death
Engulfed by flames
Shredded by shrapnel.

While I, weary beyond

Categories: nang, veterans day,
Form: Free verse