A+Piece+of+Sky+Without+Bombs

=By Lam Thi My Da =

Your friends said that you, a roadbuilder,  had such love for our country, you rushed  down the trail that night, waving your torch  to save the convoy, calling the bombs down on yourself.

We passed by the spot where you died,  tried to picture the young girl you once had been.  We pitched stones up on the barren grave,  adding our love to a rising pile of stone.

I gaze into the center of the crater  where you died and saw the sky in the pool  of rain water. Our country is so kind:  water from the sky washes the pain away.

Now you rest deep in the ground,  quiet as the sky that rests in the crater.  At night your soul pours down, <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> bright as the stars.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">I wonder, could it be your soft skin <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> changed into columns of white clouds? <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> Could it be that when we passed that day, <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> it was not the sun but your heart breaking through?

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">This jungle trail now bears your name; <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> the skies reach down to your death and touch it; <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> and we, who never saw your face, <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;"> each wear a trace of you, bright on our cheek.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Translated 2001 by Kevin Bowen