A Moment
Picture: Elisabeth Laplantei and you are not on parallel paths
we live different lives, different directions
we meet in the middle of life’s drifting journey
a meeting beyond limits, beyond timethe night is tangled
like strands of thick fog
memories fossilized
then suddenly break apart
A moment is wrapped up like a gift
and passed from hand to hand
Centuries feel short
breaths feel long
and everything falls into silence
days become thick and heavy
like the muddy nature of human life
the lotus branch still keeps its original shape
hiding an old, unchanged essence
In a moment, we gently guide the rain
sharing a delicate experience
a strand of hair catches and holds
a leftover drop of rain at the corner of the lips
a tiny, intimate detail of a passing moment
Original: Khoảnh Khắc – Nguyễn Hoàn Nguyên
Translated by Võ Thị Như Mai___
A brief but deep moment of connection between two people whose lives are not the same and do not run in parallel but somehow meet beyond normal limits like at infinity. It moves through images of confusion, memory, and impermanence of the night feeling tangled and memories break apart like stone. Everything in life is shown as temporary and drifting but a single moment is valued like a precious gift. Time feels strange, centuries seem short while each dance feels long and silent. Life is also described as heavy and muddy though something pure remains like a lotus still keeping its original form. The poem focuses on a very small, tender moment, even rain and a strand of hair become part of an intimate, fragile connection between two people.
Võ Thị Như Mai
