以下是罗伯特的诗和译文。
A Poem for Ha Long Bay, Place of Emotions
A friend said, "What do you think of it?"
"It?"
"You know: here, the view, all the islands."
How could I answer her? So many islands!...so many emotions.
Now they seem to me like statues of fallen soldiers,
receding in the misty distance, more and more of them,
never ending,
reminders of this country's past, of its struggle to remain what it is:
whole.
And now they seem to me the ghosts of those same soldiers,
risen again, both substantial and insubstantial,
reminding us, in their battle dress of misty gray,
with neither words nor blood,
of the grimness of the wars they fought,
of all wars,
of any war.
But now I hear they are really dragons descended from heaven,
sent to aid the people of this land
in their fight against invaders.
A land of poets, I once learned, while preparing
to come and fight here myself.
Humbly do I ask these people, nguoi Viet,
to accept this small offering from one nguoi My,
one whose blood you once received, accepted, absorbed,
one who rose again, to come again
To this land of smiling poets and descending dragons:
here...here.
译文：
写给下龙湾——一个充满感触的地方的诗
一个朋友问，“你对此地有何感想？”
“对此地？”
“是的，这里的景色和岛屿。”
如何回答她呢？这么多岛屿、这么多感触！
在我的眼里，他们像阵亡战士的雕塑，
矗立在迷蒙的雾色中，一行行、一列列，绵延到模糊的远方，
诉说着这个国家的过去，曾有一段为保持其原貌完整的奋斗历史。
现在那些似乎是战士的亡灵，披着灰黑色的战衣，
再次复活，既真实又虚幻，
用沉默和没有血腥的方式提醒着我们：
所有战争，毫无例外，都是残酷的！
现在听说这些岛屿是从天而降的神龙，
来到这里帮助抵御入侵者。
当我准备到这里打仗时，被告知这里的人都喜欢写诗。
当我奋战倒下时，我的鲜血被你接受、认可——仿佛血脉相连。
我又重新站起来了，再次来到这一片诗人与祥龙都无比眷恋的宝地。
我谦卑地请求这里的人们接受我这份微小的礼物
一首献给这里——下龙湾的小诗。
