Peach Blossom Petals (13 Poems In Scots) Poem by Sheena Blackhall

Ten Ca Dao (Traditional Vietnamese poems)

1. Win skelpin the banyan tree.

Win skelpin the banyan tree
Win threwshin the banyan tree.
Faither, thinking twis a ghaist,
Took aff an ran.
Three loons wi three sticks
Brocht faither back.


2. Ox, let me tell ye somethin

Ox, let me tell ye somethin,
Gyang oot an ploo wi me,
Oot in the park, be a fairmer.
Me here, ye thonner, fa’s girnin?
As lang as the rice stalks are brierin,
There'll be blades o girse for ye tae ett.


3. Fit wye tae Mound Temple?

Booed ower a stick, a monk speired,
'Fit wye tae Mound Temple, Nun? '
'Gyang by Bellybutton Inn, ' fuspered nun,
'Mound Temple’s yett is yonner.'


4. Open the door an let us in

Hoose still lit bi lamp or lowe, open the door an let us in,
On the tap bed, twa dragons are birsin,
On the boddom bed, twa dragons are wytin,
Gyang tae the back, there's a hoose wi a tiled reef.
Ye’ll hae a jumbo, sir, an a shelt aa harnessed
Ye'll live tae be a hunner, plus five
‎


5. A Hermaphrodite

Fit stooshie amang twal howdies
Gart them haive yer love-thing awa?
Tae hell wi thon skreichin moose.
Tae hell wi thon bizzin wasp.
Fa kens if it's smeeth or humphy?
Fa kens if it's stem or bud?
Fitiver it is, it maun dae.
Ye’ll niver be caaed a hoor.


6. Mairry ye an ett fit?

Seein ye, I wint tae follow ye,
Bit I'm feart
Yer sae puir, ye'll sell me!
Mairry ye an ett fit?
Manioc shoot is wersh, fig shoot’s dry.
Mairry ye an be hameless,
Parentless. Fa will luik eftir me?


7. The steel brig in Vinh Thong

Faiver crosses the steel brig in Vinh Thong
Hears the bairnies sing in the gloamin,
Hears the craa say tae the kite,
Mony French corpses are unner this brig.


8.A wumman wioot a man

Shoogly, like a hat wintin a strap,
Like a boatie wintin a rudder,
Like a wumman wioot a man.
A mairriet wumman, like a chyne aroon the neck.
An unmairriet wumman, like a boord wi a lowse nail.
A boord wi a loose nail a man can fix.
The unmairried wumman rins this wye, rins thon wye.
It is dowie tae be wioot a man, Sisters!


8.Niver mairry a Scholar

Wumman: Niver mairry a scholar,
A waste o claith. Ett, syne sleep.

Man: Wi a rattan hammock,
The king’s robe on ma back,
An rice in the shed,
Fo shouldn't I sleep
Efter a meal?


9.A Question

Wumman: King, faither, mither, ye an me
Are aa sittin on a boatie, aboot tae sink
Durin a storm, fa wad ye save?

Man: Unner a gurly lift, I winna lee.
I'll cairry the King on ma heid;
Faither an mither, on ma shouders;
An ye, ma dearie, sweem tae me;
Wi ma hauns, I'll save the boatie.


10. The Secunt Wife

Ma body isnae waur nor hers,
Bit bein the secunt wife, I sleep ootside.
Ilkie nicht she gets the bed, she steeks the door,
While I'm in the front bit, lying on ma side, on this straa mat.
An in the mornin she skirls: 'Hey, Secunt, get up! '
An I maun rise, tae slice the tatties, tae mash the lentil.
It's aa because ma fowk war puir.
Thon’s foo I slice tatties, mash lentil.


11. A Scots owersett of “Fishing in Autumn, ” (“Thu Điều, ” in the original) by Nguyễn Khuyến, a 19th century Vietnamese poet

Fishin in Autumn
The puil is dreich, the watter caller
I fish frae a wee boat showdin thonner.

Blue weet waves rowe ben the mist
The win, the leaves flee by wi the year
Frae a deep blue lift hing raws o clouds
On a bamboo path, naebody appears

Knees to breist, I guide the pole,
Mony fish rug at the seggs roon here.


12. A Scots owersett of an poem by Man Giac.

Tellin the Warld o ma Sairs

Spring gyangs, an a hunner flooers faa
Spring comes, a hunner flooers brier
Life passes quick afore oor een
On ma heid, age has hunkered doon
Dinna say flooers stop faain fin spring eyns.
Last nicht in the coortyaird, I saw a plumb branch brier!


13. Puggie Sleepin

Puggie sleepin on the shrine
Wauken up! It’s denner time

Towrists here wi fruit tae spare
Cameras clickin, come an share!

Puggie sleepin on the shrine
Wauken up! It’s denner time