CONSCIENCE AND WILL

The “Boat People” who was nourished with the corpse of his congeners
Is persistently haunted for life
For life he will see a worn-out moonlight
And the flesh that reminds him of his culpable conscience.

The “Boat People” incessantly recites her prayers
Death we will face all of us one day anyway
For thirty years her heart goes to the ocean
And her hope is to be exonerated from the unjust painful sin

The “Boat People” keep sadness deep in their heart
They witness the evolution from “Boat People” into “Việt Kiều”* ‘s
Well-dressed in suits, he find joy in shocking pleasures.
Recounting them, falsifying them as much as they wanted

The “Viet Kieu” smiles, bragging and wriggling,
Eulogizing the heretics and demagogues,
And the party members with their harems
Who sit majestically on the head of the people.

The “Boat People” return with secret plans
Not discouraged by the obstacles
The fatherland is in peril, they give their hands
To find a way to fight and write a new page in their history

To show love for their country,
The “Boat People”, create from their heart, songs, poems, writings, and paintings.
Look! Buffaloes and dogs find their way home,
How can human beings leave their homeland for good?

As many “Boat People”, as many sad memories
Why waiting? Where is the clear will?
Let the vile Communists abuse of their power?
As much resentment has been wasted

Oh! “Boat People”, show your pride!
For the nation, open your heart, show your good will!
Annihilate the “Kiều Vận”** tactic and the traitors
Exterminate all the spies who are among us.
Oh! “Boat People”, you who had fought for your country
Let’s unite to form an incomparable force
Together those who are still in the ranks
Let our heart go towards our fatherland and be ready to fight.

I am also a “Boat People” like you
You’re proud men, I am an ordinary woman
But since dusk I dream of dawn
For my countrymen, I dream of a triumphant return!

*Vietnamese living abroad
**Campaign to win the heart of the anticommunist Vietnamese living abroad.

On behalf of the boat people still living for their fatherland
Poem by Ý NGA. Translated by HUONG DUONG