“Sending the saltiness to the sea” as a sincere confession of Ton Nu Dieu Hanh

The collection of poems is divided into five chapters, including: Autumn Soul, Heart Words, Sending Saltiness to the Sea, Self-pity, Four Seasons of Love. This structure evokes an emotional journey from the initial vibrations of autumn, through whispers of the heart, to the feelings entrusted to the ocean, then returning to life experiences and finally to love in harmony in the four seasons. This is how the author tells his own love story in poetry.

The sea is the central image, both vast and intimate, both fierce and gentle. In her poems, the sea appears not only as nature but also as a symbol of love, nostalgia, of devoted desires and quiet loneliness. Besides the sea, autumn is another support. In the poem Touching Autumn (Autumn Soul chapter), the author left a special impression: autumn is not only the scenery but also the human soul, the intoxication of love. There, nature and people seem to melt into each other, creating a gentle and passionate chorus.

What makes “Sending Salt to the Sea” so appealing is its sincerity. Ton Nu Dieu Hanh writes poetry as if talking to her own heart, without constraint or embellishment. Sometimes it is gentle confession, sometimes it is intense longing, but all are honest and imbued with the experience of someone who has lived, loved, and longed to hold onto youth in her memory - as she wrote: “Old or young, no difference / Love is a magical light in the heart”.

Many poets and critics, when reading this collection of poems, emphasized the author’s “courage”. Courage is not because she moved from prose to poetry, but because she dared to write about love boldly and passionately. Dieu Hanh’s poetry, therefore, becomes valuable because of its honesty, simplicity and richness of emotion.

Reading “Sending Salt to the Sea”, one sees a journey of love and life, sees inner silences, sees the constant dialogue of a sensitive heart. Her poems are sometimes whispers, sometimes earnest calls, and sometimes urgent calls to time: “Please time do not pass so quickly/ So that my youth has not withered”.

Closing the book of poems, the remaining echo is a passionate, intense, but also tender and humane heart. That is Ton Nu Dieu Hanh, a gentle yet resilient Hue woman, a writer, and now a poet who knows how to listen to her heart to share with life.

Article and photos: Hai Bang

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/khuc-tinh-ca-tu-hue-trong-gui-man-nong-cho-bien-158039.html