The Breath Continues

Twenty-eight haiku after the archive closed

TUAN TRAN

These poems were written after the collected archive was declared closed. There was no reason to keep writing. They kept arriving anyway — from the quiet hour after meditation, when the bell of concentration has stopped ringing and something of its clarity remains.

Two images carry the whole sequence. The temple bell is the meditation itself: sound struck, sustained, dissolved. The moon is what the texts call the nimitta — the sign that arises in a concentrated mind, light that was never missing and only waits to be noticed. Everything else — the leaves, the crow, the spider, the fog — is what passes while the bell rings.

The archive preserved the life. This little book preserves only what the life settled into.

— Tuan Tran, October 2026

The ink-wash illustrations accompanying these poems were generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence, in the style of Japanese sumi-e. They are offered as visual companions to the mood of each poem, not literal depictions.

Part One

The Strike

191

Summertime
a butterfly
perching on the peony

Mùa hè
Bươm bướm
Đậu trên hoa mẫu đơn

192

A crow
standing
in falling snow

Con quạ
Đứng yên
Giữa tuyết rơi

193

Autumn moon
to the monastery
before sunset

Trăng thu
Đến tu viện
Trước hoàng hôn

A path to a monastery beneath an autumn moon in sumi-e ink

194

Autumn chill
the winding road
to the monastery

Rét thu
Con đường quanh co
Đến tu viện

A winding road through autumn hills in sumi-e ink

195

Wintertime
peony flowers
in snowflakes

Mùa đông
Hoa mẫu đơn
Trong những bông tuyết

196

Full moon
cloudy night
just as bright

Trăng tròn
Đêm nhiều mây
Vẫn sáng

Part Two

What Passes

197

The light
penetrating
through autumn fog

Ánh sáng
Xuyên qua
Sương mù mùa thu

198

Autumn leaves
of different colors
falling

Lá thu
Nhiều màu sắc
Rơi

199

Autumn leaves
the color
of Autumn

Lá thu
Màu của
Mùa thu

Autumn leaves resting in seasonal tones in sumi-e ink

200

Darkness
becomes
moonlight

Bóng tối
Trở thành
Ánh trăng

A moon emerging from darkness in sumi-e ink

201

In moonlight
autumn leaves
floating with the wind

Đêm trăng sáng
Lá thu
Lơ lửng theo gió

Leaves floating in moonlight in sumi-e ink

202

Autumn wind
spiderweb vibrating
spider stands still

Gió thu
Mạng nhện rung
Con nhện đứng yên

A spiderweb trembling in wind, spider still, in sumi-e ink

203

Sunlight disappearing
into cool autumn evening
the warmth of the breath

Ánh nắng dần tắt
Vào buổi tối thu se lạnh
Hơi ấm của hơi thở

Sunlight fading into autumn dusk in sumi-e ink

204

Autumn evening
darkness
becomes moonlight

Buổi tối mùa thu
Bóng tối
Trở thành ánh trăng

A moon over an evening landscape in sumi-e ink

205

Watching moonlight
reflecting
on a still pond

Nhìn ánh trăng
Phản chiếu
Trên ao lặng

206

Moonlight
in
cloudless sky

Trăng sáng
Trong
Trời không mây

A lone moon in a cloudless sky in sumi-e ink

207

Starry night
autumn moon
sunlight over the horizon

Đêm sao
Trăng thu
Ánh sáng của bình minh

Stars, moon, and dawn light in sumi-e ink

208

A winding path
to the monastery
just the same

Lối mòn quanh co
Đến tu viện
Vẫn như thế

A winding path to a monastery in sumi-e ink

209

The light
of the autumn moon
appearing when it's time

Ánh sáng
Của trăng thu
Xuất hiện khi đến lúc

A moon cresting a ridgeline in sumi-e ink

210

Autumn morning
songbirds
still sing

Mùa thu
Chim
Vẫn hót

A single songbird on a bare branch in sumi-e ink

211

Autumn sky
catching
moonlight

Trời thu
Đón
Ánh trăng

An open sky glowing with moonlight in sumi-e ink

212

Crescent moon
rising
at sunset

Trăng lưỡi liềm
Lúc
Hoàng hôn

213

Spiderweb
in moonlight
spider in stillness

Mạng nhện
Trong ánh trăng
Con nhện đứng yên

Part Three

The Fade

214

Autumn moon
the light settles
on still pond

Trăng thu
Ánh sáng
Trên ao lặng

Moonlight settling on a still pond in sumi-e ink

215

Temple bell
the sound
at touching point

Chuông chùa
Âm thanh
Tại điểm chạm

A temple bell with its striking log in sumi-e ink

216

Autumn moon
the light fading
cloudy sky

Trăng thu
Ánh sáng mờ
Trời nhiều mây

A fading autumn moon behind clouds in sumi-e ink

Epilogue

The Net Remains

217

Dreamcatcher
in
moonlight

Lưới bắt giấc mơ
Trong
Ánh trăng

A dreamcatcher bathed in moonlight in sumi-e ink

218

The light
of the full moon
touching

Ánh sáng
Của trăng tròn
Chạm vào

A full moon glowing into empty space in sumi-e ink

These poems continue the collected haiku of Tuan Tran,
archived at tuantran.org and preserved in the Vietnam Center & Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive,
Texas Tech University.