Businessman Phan Hong Minh: Weaving poetry from nostalgia

QTO - “I consider poetry as a close friend to entrust my love and endless nostalgia for my homeland. No matter where I am, the image of my homeland is always a solid support, a strong source of inspiration for me to write heartfelt poems. Throughout many of my poems are simple, familiar images such as rivers, dikes, green bamboo hedges, windy pine hills and even my mother's lullabies... All of them have entered my poems naturally, like a source that never stops flowing...”. That is the sentiment of author Phan Hong Minh, an amateur poet but has many good poems about his homeland and country.

Phan Hong Minh is from Cao Lao Ha village, Ha Trach commune, Bo Trach district, Quang Binh province (old), now Bac Trach commune, Quang Tri province. He has lived and worked in Eastern Europe for a long time, mainly in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Currently, he is the General Director of Asia Master Travel Investment and Tourism Company in Hanoi.

No matter where he goes, the son of “Ha village” always misses his homeland and shows that love through many practical actions. He always devotes his love, effort and money to help and share with students in difficult circumstances, the poor, the disabled in his hometown, along with many other charitable activities, accompanying many volunteer projects in his hometown.

Although he is a businessman, Phan Hong Minh has a great love for poetry and literature - Photo: NV

Although he has a PhD in linguistics, Phan Hong Minh has a great love for poetry and literature. Since his student years, he has composed poems, considering poetry as a close friend to confide his feelings. Phan Hong Minh shared that, although he is far from home, his childhood memories are always present in his mind. He clearly remembers the summer afternoons with his friends bathing and fishing on the Gianh River or the afternoons running along the windy dike.

In particular, the sunset moment in the countryside with the image of warm blue smoke rising from the thatched roofs, mixed with the scent of rice and the distant sound of temple bells, has become an unforgettable memory, bringing him a peaceful and profound feeling. It is those sweet and profound memories that have become a source of emotions, a precious material for him to cherish and compose verses and melodies about his homeland, typically the poem "Summer Village in Autumn".

With simple verses and lyrical tone, the poem takes readers to a peaceful autumn space, imbued with the soul of the countryside. Autumn in his poetry does not only come from the cool breeze or the familiar yellow leaves, but is felt through very unique and familiar images, such as the banyan tree, the ferry, the communal house yard and the gentle Gianh River "sparkling" under the "golden sunlight".

If “Lang Ha in Autumn” gives readers a sense of peace, as if immersed in the cool green space of a poetic village, the work “Finding Childhood” has weight because of its sincerity. The poem is the voice of a child who always turns to his fatherland, his homeland with all respect and love.

Without using flowery words, each verse is like a gentle stream of confidences, evoking memories of a pure childhood. Those are the summer afternoons of “draining water, going fishing”, the late nights lying listening to the “sound of the boat” going up and down, the cry of “ferryman…” echoing from the two shores of the waves. Each sound and image is imbued with the soul of the countryside. The poet feels indebted to his homeland, to his unfulfilled dreams, to the pure days that have passed away.

Phan Hong Minh also painted a picture of a beautiful river like a soft green silk strip across the land of "Lao wind and white sand", that is Gianh River with "Four seasons of clear blue water/Soft as a silk strip connecting him and her" (Gianh River). From that quiet moment, a whole "land of memories" rushed back. It was the figure of someone "standing in a daze" every afternoon, it was the "buzzing" waves as if "whispering to tell countless love stories". The most beautiful are probably the moonlit nights, when the dike becomes a dating space, where "men and women freely exchange their love"...

"During my journey of growing up, traveling to many places in and outside the country, I realized that my hometown is the place that brings me the most peace. Working in the tourism industry, I cherish the dream of building Ha village into a green eco-tourism village. In terms of composition, I had an impressive poetry and music night, combined with humanitarian and charity programs held in Hue City (in 2023) and hope to have similar activities take place right in my hometown", Mr. Phan Hong Minh shared.

In the poem “I return to the homeland sea”, the author again “sows” in the reader’s heart many emotions with the gentle poetic voice, soaring and romantic poetic words. The whole poem is a journey to find memories, where love and nostalgia are woven from the salty taste of waves and wind. The sea is like a loyal lover, always waiting and the reunion of the character “he” with the sea is to fill the gaps after many days of separation.

Not only is he deeply attached to his birthplace, Phan Hong Minh also has a deep love for Hanoi , where he lives and is attached. Through the poem “Autumn Notes”, he used his most sincere emotions to paint a poetic picture of autumn in Hanoi. There are the sounds of temple bells, the echoes of ca tru, the passionate aroma of milk flowers, new green rice, the cool autumn breeze and the lingering purple of the afternoon clouds.

Every mossy street corner, Hoan Kiem Lake, Pen Tower, rows of trees changing leaves... and all the most familiar things of Hanoi are naturally present, close in the poem. Then all the emotions settle in the two final lines: "Even though I go to the four corners of the world/I still miss the autumn of Hanoi". That is not only the author's own feeling, but also the common voice of many children of Hanoi, or those who have fallen in love with autumn here.

Phan Hong Minh has many poems set to music, including many songs he composed himself, such as: "Moi anh ve xu Quang", "Ha Noi to nhac mua thu", "Quang Binh in spring", "Tim me", "Ve lai truong xua"... showing the harmony between poetry and music, bringing the work closer to the public.

Japanese

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/van-hoa/202510/doanh-nhan-phan-hong-minh-det-tho-tu-noi-nho-que-95a7763/