Inside Submarines

By Phan Nhien Hao

Tr. Linh Dinh

We live inside odd-shaped submarines

chasing after secrets and the darkness of the ocean
on a voyage toward plastic horizons
where vague connections are always out of reach
and hopes are not deployed
before the storm arrives and the 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 at the equator

trying 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 the void,
and then our submarine
won't have any place to dive."