This Path

Sister Chân Trăng Lâm Hỷ

This Path

Because I chose this path
there is calmness.

Because there is calmness
something can grow.

A tiny seed, buried in the soil,
silently stretching out its roots
—a trust beyond lifetimes.

There has to be a winter first
before welcoming the spring.

Sister Chân Trăng Lâm Hỷ

When We Are Gone

Who will look at the stars
and witness the sunrise?

Who will listen to the wind
in the trees and the owl?

Who will smell the honeysuckle
and feel the cat in your lap?

Who will write poetry?

No one to cry, to laugh,
to feel the intense beauty and the pain.

Being alive is not a small thing.