In a world haunted by the echoes of what was lost, presence lingers in absence and memory is etched into every stillness. Shadows speak louder than voices, and silence becomes a vessel for all the questions too heavy to ask. Time stutters through forgotten wars and empty rooms, while fragile gestures—watering a barren plant, floating a paper name—reveal the quiet ache of endurance. Nothing shatters outright; instead, things unravel—light, language, even the self—until what remains is the soft breath before a storm, the quiet no one names, but everyone carries.
WHAT THE SILENCE HOLDS
<Vo Thi Nhu Mai>
1/
A bird circles above the ruins
as if sketching a name, it once knew
but cannot pronounce.
The wind holds the walls upright
only long enough
for a child to pass through.
The silence is not absence
It is the weight of unasked questions
left at the door of every house.
Someone or no one
has taken the weapons
and buried them in a field
where no one remembers to search.
Before the first word
a shadow knelt.
It did not pray
It did not ask to stay
It simply pressed
its whole being
into the space
between heartbeats.
2/
The window was not broken
It just forgot
how to hold the light.
You asked me a question
with your back turned
something about staying
Or maybe abandon.
The clock kept time for a war
no one remembered starting.
And still you kept watering
a plant that never grew.
I folded my name into a paper shape
and set it afloat on the floorboards.
Somewhere under the house
a slow leak was learning
how to become a river.
There were footsteps upstairs
No one was home
Only the dust, and a song
that wouldn’t stop
forgetting its own melody.
If a silence opens its mouth, who listens?
If you survive, but your shadow doesn’t
what walks beside you?
There is no anthem for the unbroken
Only this: the hush before thunder
that no one calls a promise.
VO THI NHU MAI
http/vietnampoetry.wordpress.com
– Date of Birth: March 18, 1976
– Hometown: Quảng Trị, Vietnam
– Current Residence: Dianella, Western Australia, Australia
– Occupation: Primary school teacher in the public education system of Western Australia
– Education: Master’s in Education, Master Degree in Literature
– Roles: Poet, translator
– Work History:
– 1998-2003: English teacher at Ngô Quyền High School, Châu Đức, Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu
– 2003-2010: postgraduate studies at Edith Cowan University (ECU), WA
– 2006-2016: Taught at Dryandra Primary School, WA
– 2016-present: Teaching at Maylands Primary School, WA
– 2015-2022: Volunteered at Hùng Vương Vietnamese School on weekends and successfully secured government funding for school activities twice.
teacher, poet, translator
As a primary school teacher with over twenty years of full-time teaching experience in Western Australia, following five years of teaching at a high school in Bà Rịa Vũng Tàu.
In addition to being a poet with numerous published works, my poetry was selected for inclusion in a book as part of a 2023 English poetry competition in Western Australia, organized and curated by WAPOET.
Several of my poems have been set to music and performed across various districts within the country.
I am also an advocate for promoting the works of fellow artists, often designing, presenting, and writing prefaces for their literary collections.
I frequently present bilingual poetry readings at cultural festivals organized by the Vietnamese Women’s Association in Western Australia.
Poetry Collections:
- Reflections on Poetry (Poetry, Women’s Publishing House, 2010)
- Beyond the Vast Ocean (Poetry, Literature Publishing House, 2011)
- The Fairy Tale Garden (Poetry, Writers’ Association Publishing House, 2015)
- Let the Day Be Short (Poetry, Thuận Hóa Publishing House, 2022)
- Oh, that’s true, I am waiting (Poetry, upcoming publication)
Vietnamese-English Translated Works Published in Recent Years:
- Bilingual Poetry of Võ Quê
- Bilingual Poetry of Nguyễn Thanh Kim (published in Romania)
- Bilingual Poetry of Nguyễn Quốc Học
- Bilingual Poetry of Vũ Thụy Nhung
- Bilingual Poetry of Trần Quang Đạo (published in Canada)
- Nhịp Điệu Việt The Rhythm of Vietnam, Bilingual Edition (Anthology of 307 poets from Vietnam and abroad)
- Bilingual Poetry of Hoài Thu
- Essays of Nguyễn Đức Tùng (upcoming publication)