Inside Submarines

By Phan Nhien Hao

Tr. Linh Dinh

We live inside submarines,

chasing after secrets and darkness of the ocean
on voyage toward plastic horizons
where vague connections can never be reached
and hopes are not deployed
before the storm arrives and alarm command starts
to rouse the last illusions to stand up and put life jackets on
looking to each other for help

Once I was t the equator

tying to slice the earth in half along the dotted line
but someone held my hand and said:
if you do that, friend, water will fall into void,
and then our submarine wont have a place to dive .”