To Mississippi Poem by Thanh-Thanh NhuanLe

You have flowed down here from the North;
Like you, I have drifted over here from the East.
We’ve been similar in our leeway thenceforth;
My life is melancholy, is yours too, at least?

Do you grieve? Why are you still running fast?
The farther you reach the wider/deeper you grow.
I am so sad, dizzy looking at you rushing past;
Missing my far native land I bow my head low.

Along your path everywhere alluvium giving,
Away from source a river knows to nourish Man,
While my blind alley is in search of a living,
Wanting to feed myself with joy hardly I can.

Back home, I have the modest Thu Stream
Which also knows to nurse people and self-love.
All my life to be like that dear river I dream
To flow among Love, round and round to rove.

Nevertheless, adieu to my country! So fervid
Up to this place, my return seems a blindfold.
The farther from its origin it gets more turbid:
Distraught with disgrace - Oh! pure flow of old!

You and me, we both are away from source:
We should have exchanged feelings all night.
Without worry, you continue your swift course,
Leaving me all solitary in exile in this plight!