The General is lying there
Motionless and speechless
Having done what must be done
He passed away in peace
Nothing to attach
Nobody to blame
The General left with only one simple wish:
To return to his old village
Where there are poor peasants
“Quang Binh My Birthplace!”*
Where water is everywhere
and the land is filled with love for the vast sea
“Quang Binh My Birthplace!”
When the General passed away
His heart and mind was upon
Returning to where his ancestors had lived
Like the Gianh River
After years and years flowing on foreign lands
In the end it always pours into the vast sea
Where he was born
Is where he would return.
The General did not go away;
He has returned
to live in his people’s sea womb.
Oct 12, 2013
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* The title of a song General Vo Nguyen Giap would listen to during his last days.
