after Tình xót xa vừa by Trịnh Công Sơn

Please applaud with taste, when night spills down my life.
Please applaud with taste, when love has flowed far away.
A smile swept me off.
Another day will see me back.

Please stand still in the evening.
(On the lips, a lone breath of smoke)
Please stand still in the evening.
Hang love out for the sun to dry: Back here it’s a damaged body.
Lie in bed and listen to the leaves.
Grieve a little pain with sweetness.

One day on our shoulders, the storm will subside.
Look all around you: The trances are broken —
the cravings of the heart.
How the nights pass in a blur.

Each day stuck in place.
I remember those roving streets,
the will to live feeding neglect of those boundless mornings,
handed back today, struck dumb in all directions.

Please applaud with taste.
(In the heart, a dried drop of blood)
Please applaud with taste.
Each person stops their sound.
A word for love’s aimless end, a day for love’s gentle anguish.

Please stand still in the evening, rustling the sunset shadows.
Please stand still in the evening.
Hang love on an empty nail.
An exile’s life is full of cracks.
I’ve rolled up the world from before, yet my arms still clutch the blackness.