The harmony in the not so old poetry collection

Rereading the so-called old poetry collections of poet friends in the Binh Thuan poetry garden to feel the innocence and dreams of a time. I suddenly encountered a feeling of nostalgia when reading the poetry collection “Trần Trọng” published by Tre Publishing House at the end of 1998, that is, 25 years ago.

Sincerely includes authors Nguyen Dinh (1939), Ngo Dinh Mien (1954), Ho Viet Khue (1952) and Nguyen Thanh (1956)... Compared to the space for literature and printing conditions at that time, the locality was still very limited. However, these were also the emotions in the poems of authors who were in their mid-life and were filled with nostalgia, dreams and many concerns. With a presentation form, the 18x19cm size of artist Nguyen Quoc Chanh was both eye-catching and impressive in its geometric style.

Luckily for me, I know all the poets in the collection, but I dare not call them close because I do not fully understand what is still quiet and worried in each person. But as for Ho Viet Khue, I once received his poems in the Dat Moi magazine of the Binh Tuy Literature and Arts group (1973) under the pen name Ho Ta Don through two poems when he was about 20 years old, "Vay chao Doi Duong" and "Chieu dut mua o cho Mui Ne", which were very romantic: "If it rains, the rain wets both heads/ Don't let it rain alone, it hurts...". But before working with his brothers to create this collection of Tran Trong, Ho Viet Khue, even though the time has increased, still maintains the emotional quality in his poems that seems indifferent but is enough to make people's hearts flutter. He wrote: “Rolled up my pants and walked into the duckweed pond/Your legs were white, fish were following you/You came back, you didn’t know/I was fishing all day yesterday” (Jealousy), or more passionately: “At the beginning of the river you bathed naked/At the end of the river the water slowly flows” (Love). Rarely does anyone, in life, love and miss, have to absentmindedly look to the end of the river and then see “the water slowly flows”. When Ho Viet Khue became a member of the Vietnam Writers Association (2006) and quietly and diligently devoted himself to prose: The Ao Ba Ba with a heart-shaped neckline (story collection - 1993), What’s wrong with giving a rose (story collection - 1994), At the sea (short story - 1995) about topics for childhood in the coastal region of his hometown and was also a reporter for Tien Phong newspaper with enthusiasm, not “shy”, it is easy to think that his poetic soul would soon “dry up”, making it difficult for poetry lovers to remember. However, with the poetry collection Grass (Writer Association Publishing House - 2015) being his first poetry collection, I know him right, no matter how he wanders, how sweet and bitter life is, Ho Viet Khue's poetry still has a sky of love that is smooth and romantic until later.

I will always remember the skinny image of Nguyen Dinh (real name Tran Cong Diec) every time he went to La Gi, stopped by with his art friends to call each other, raise his glass to call... but I knew I had to let him go somewhere... It was his own business. He was from Quang Nam but had been attached to Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan, his wife's hometown since before 1975. At that time, he had just graduated from Gia Dinh National College of Fine Arts with a major in silk painting and Saigon University of Literature. He was recruited to teach drawing at Phan Boi Chau High School (Phan Thiet). Ho Viet Khue was his student in the painting class from 7th to 4th grade (i.e. grades 6-9 later). With his talent in painting, Tran Cong Diec won the Saigon Fine Arts Award (1962), the Indian National Fine Arts Award (1965) and the Duc Thanh Binh Thuan Literature and Arts Award, the first time in 1997 - B prize with the work Mother's Heart (silk). The life of talented artist Tran Cong Diec has gone through many cruel twists and turns.

Of the 15 poems by Nguyen Dinh in the collection "True Respect", I cannot help but feel sorry for his despair: "Of course you already have a husband/ I suddenly carry this dream/ If only I could wait and wait/ Without you, I would still be foolish in this world" (Of course) - Knowing the tragedy of his life, I can fully appreciate these lines of poetry, still sparkling like tears. I secretly think that Nguyen Dinh's love poems are sad petals on his magical artistic palette.

With Ngo Dinh Mien in "Than Trong", when reading these poems, I was completely surprised by the emotions and romanticism of teacher Mien who once bathed in the stream in La Da forest, drank wine at night in Dong Giang... Ngo Dinh Mien's poems, probably written before 1998, the year the collection "Than Trong" was published, read and feel the eternal reality but "sparkle" with such beautiful verses: "Sweeping the leaves in this yard on a winter morning/ The wind is soaked with mist, are you cold/ The yard is full of fallen flowers like the color of fire/ Her broom gathers a red stove" (Bong Giay). Or with a question that is not at all vague: "The yellow leaves fall, the green buds are strange/ I shed my life, asking if I will be young again" (Hoi Xuan). Only those who have spent years in the high mountains and deep forests like this can write: "Drinking at night on a suspension bridge with a hammock/ On the cold, bright river, a stream of moonlight/ You are a blurry illusion and the spring mist is white/ I hug you - only see the shadow of drunkenness" (Drinking at night on La Da suspension bridge).

Later, the individual poetry collections Loi Lu Toc Trang (2007), Phi Nguoc (2008), Luc Bat Hon Nhien (2009) and Rac Phan Len Troi (2022) truly showed Ngo Dinh Mien a rich source of poetry, the anxieties of love and life with simple, emotional poetic language. But it would be remiss not to mention the memoir collection Buoc Len Hoa Do (Literature Publishing House - 2011) which won the 5th Duc Thanh Literature and Arts Award - 2017 (B Prize - no A Prize). It mentioned many issues about life and academia with courage and clarity. That is also his personality and lifestyle.

With the "special" poet friend Nguyen Thanh, quite impressive - I only had the chance to be close to him in the past year through the poetry collection "Poems written on the edge of the universe" (Literature Publishing House - 2011). But with the time with Binh Thuan poet friends in Tran Trong (1998), Nguyen Thanh's poetry easily made an impression with a rather strong way of expressing: "Behind the sea there is something unsaid/ The mountain shape sits anxiously: Sinking" (Floating). Or more quietly: "The sun sets to hold the afternoon/ The moon rises and scatters down so many golden grains/ The boat returns to the vast river/ Letting my soul mix with the golden color of the moon" (Moon).

The old poetry collection of four friends, each with their own style and life, but met in the hearts that Nguyen Thanh gathered in the poem "Trần Trọng" which is also the title of the common poetry collection: "I cherish every strand of misfortune that surrounds me/ I cherish every leaf lying in the ground/ I cherish every tiny piece of flesh/ of the lost insect".

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