[21. TRANSFUSIVE]
By Nam Le
Restore to us, before this modern alphabet—
developed by Portuguese missionaries—
sent to Đàng Trong, also known as Nam Hà,
meaning south of the river, known also as
Cochinchina (from the Malay Kuchi
and the Chinese 交趾 (in Vietnamese, Giao Chỉ)),
and Quinam by the Dutch East India Company,
when Saigon was still រពនគរ, Prey Nokor,
meaning forest city—from the Latin script,
from the Romans, from the Greeks,
from the Phoenicians, from the Egyptians—
the old, the high, the pure language, consecrated
from the sacred dragon and the sprite
(while yes, maybe taking from the Chinese
while breaking from the Chinese): Chữ Nôm.
Notes:
This poem is from a longer series called 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem.
Source: Poetry (March 2023)