A Song Dedicated To All The Corpses
Corpses float on the water, dry in the fields
On the city rooftops, on the winding streets
Corpses lie abandoned under the eaves of the pagoda
On the road to the city churches, on the floors of deserted houses
Oh, Springtime, corpses will nourish the plowed soil
Oh, Viet Nam, corpses will lend themselves to the soil of tomorrow
The approaching roads, though thorny and winding
Already filled with corpses
Corpses lie around here, in the cold rain
Next to corpses of the old and weak
We have corpses of the young and innocent
Which one of these corpses is my brother,
In the bomb craters and the trenches ?
In each burnt area, by the corn and sweet potato fields ?
translated by Tran Duy Tinh