The Gift in Wartime by Tran Mong Tu

The Gift in Wartime

Tran Mong Tu

(translated by Vann Phan)

Introduction to the writer

(Tran Mong Tu was born and grown up in Hai Dong, North Vietnam in 1943. She worked for Associated Press in South Vietnam in the 1960s. She moved to the US in 1975 after South Vietnam fall. Tran had wanted to be a writer since elementary school, but her poetry was not published until she reached the United States.

Today, she frequently contributes poems and short stories to Vietnamese literary publications in the US and other countries. “War is a terrible thing,” says Tran, who has first-hand experience of the Vietnam War (1954-1975). According to Tran, “The Vietnam War is a shameful experience, for both Vietnamese and Americans.” Many people in both countries felt the terrible tragedy of the war. Losses in the war were heavy; more than two million Vietnamese and 57,000 Americans died.

In the poem 'The Gift in Wartime', Tran addresses an absent person. For example, as she says, “I offer you roses,” the person to whom she is speaking is not present and can neither hear nor understand what she is saying.)

I offer you roses

Buried in your new grave

I offer you my wedding gown

To cover your tomb still green with grass.

You give me medals

Together with silver stars

And the yellow pips on your badge

Unused and still shining.

I offer you my youth

The days we were still in love

My youth died away

When they told me the bad news.

You give me the smell of blood

From your war dress

Your blood and your enemy’s

So that I may be moved.

I offer you clouds

That linger on my eyes on summer days

I offer you cold winters

Amid my springtime of life.

You give me your lips with no smile

You give me your arms without tenderness

You give me your eyes with no sight

And your motionless body.

Seriously, I apologize to you

I promise to meet you in our next life

I will hold this shrapnel as a token

By which we will recognize each other.

Glossary

pips (n.): military badges of rank worn on the shoulder

shrapnel (n.): fragments scattered from exploding bombs

tenderness (n.): a feeling of concern, gentle affection or warmth