Dear MC forum friends:
I have about 5 minutes of break at work and can't think. About 15 minutes ago, I bent down to retrieve a dropped paperclip and as I sat back up, I hit my head hard against the edge of the heavy steel desk in my office. I now have a bump in the back of the cranium (and hopefully no hematoma later). Being conveniently in an unproductive daze, I wandered into our MC forum and came upon Thuy Chau's poem which completely and absolutely jolted my artistic sensibility. Since my brain is not working properly yet, I am going to rest it a bit by loosely translating Thuy Chau's poem into English. I dedicate my little ode to spring and the joy of gardening to our forum. I didn't get to hear any music because when I tried twice to download music, nothing happened. It is a consolation that we are forbidden to listen to music at work. Here we go:
Blue wisteria of my heart
Towards whom are you leaning?
You have forsaken me
To romance your hunky sweaty gardener
Thus Steve the master of his castle
Teases his snow-white azaleas
And tenderly winds around the white pillar
Crimson tea-scented camellias
Steve only has eyes for his flowers
And they only live for him
For them he has gone "green"
And offers them his choicest composted soil
For us his friends, he immortalizes
their floral beauty in photography
We see them stroll in splendid rows
And shout in unison: "Aren't we pretty?"
Oh blue wisteria of my heart
For your intoxicating scent
The hunky sweaty gardener
Labors day and night with his hands
OK, this is not a verbatim translation of Thuy Chau's masterpiece so you will see added or deleted words here and there which may change the meaning of each verse. It is freestyle poetry, meaning that I am not following any rules in particular and nothing rhymes. I have tried to keep it whimsical in order to remind us of the fickle and ephemeral beauty of spring. I didn't get to hear Duc or Triet's music because of where I am when I email you but as I translate Thuy Chau's poem, I suddenly hear in my mind the lush lyrics of "Beautiful Maria of my Soul", a nice bolero/rhumba from the movie "The Mambo Kings". Does anyone in our forum remember this old film? Antonio Banderas wrote the lyrics in Spanish then sang it in the movie. Los Lobos wrote the English lyrics. At the Academy Awards ceremony, Antonio Banderas refused to sing the song so his fellow Spaniard Placido Domingo stepped forward and obliged the delighted audience. OK, my five minutes are over, the bump is still the same, my brain is less foggy, it's time to say good-bye to the MC forum and return to work reality with a thud. I would like to thank Thuy Hoa and Thuy Hao for writing me in the middle of their sorrow. I would also like to ask Doug Phan: "Weren't you sitting next to me at Quan Tao on New Year's Day?'
Hugs to all, friends or strangers,
Diep
