Voice from Beyond the Grave
Here lie my mortal remains
In the field of eternal rest
The last stop of a transient life with multiple destinies
The clay covers my icy dead body
The smoke of scented incenses guides the comings and goings.
Beautiful flowers, ultimate farewell gifts, offered by my friends
Begin to fade, stamens and pistils decompose
Into exhalations of the cemetery
The wind blows and blows in all ways on the free trails
Moaning crows caw above the deserted place.
The green grass invades my feet, my hair, my ears
My spirit leaves the lower world and flies over the mountains
My soul wanders in the depths of the forests
Observing from above, the condition of the world of miserable reprobates.
Well then, let me metamorphose myself into greenery
To be in harmony with nature
Illustrious Creator, the Just one, has already shown his smile.
—Trân Khai Thanh Thuy (1989)