Come Along With Me
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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