a velvet chair
standing by itself
on a highway
a chair standing by itself on a highway
means its life is over
a life of ups and downs
before it was brought here
and left beside the grass
nevertheless
it was laid down squarely
maybe
thanks to a final gesture of love
with all four legs standing against the asphalt
this whisks an image to my mind:
a wandering soul who leisurely sits here
between the passing cars
and the mud
but surely no soul can be so foolish
as to come and sit on a torn old abandoned chair
on a dark cold rainy September afternoon
on a lightless highway
or
to give the chair
a little consolation
I conclude as follows:
there exists such a soul
it’s just that he, or she, is
not here
not now
The author thanks Kaitlin Rees for her assistance with the translation.
“Cái ghế giữa xa lộ vào một buổi chiều mưa” first published in Tiền Vệ (www.tienve.org). © P.K. By arrangement with the author. Translation © 2018 by P.K. All rights reserved.
