Ho Xuan Huong

Here you will find the Poem Water-bailing of poet Ho Xuan Huong

Water-bailing

Not a drop of rain for this dry heat! 
Come, girls, let's go bail water. 
Let's drag our delta-shaped buckets to that huge square field 
where our bodies can pulse to the water's lapping. 
Crouched, straining to catch each trickle from the rockheads, 
our buttocks tighten with such labor. 
Indeed, we work so hard we forget the effort 
and, taking a final stance to bend and lift - 
you part your legs a second, and it's filled.