"Calm and serene among the clouds"

Poet Ngo Thanh Van shared: “8 years is a period of great change for me personally. Failure, success, happiness, and suffering are all lessons that have helped me grow up today. I use the image of clouds to choose my way of living in life.”

Cover of the poetry collection "Van Khong". **Photo: Thai Binh**

Indeed, “Van Khong” bears the author’s own mark right from the title of the book, the arrangement and layout of a poetic soul with an understanding of painting. Ngo Thanh Van herself drew the picture for architect Nguyen Quoc Hoc to design the book cover. Along with that are the appendices drawn by artist Dang Mau Tuu and the author’s portrait through the vivid brushstrokes of artist Do Hoang Tuong.

Spending time reading the collection of poems, I personally think that “Van Khong” has rich and delicate language, profound but no less fresh emotions and life experiences of a woman passionate about poetry. This is how she expresses her perspective on life, thereby conveying a life attitude: even though going through storms, the heart still turns towards serenity, like a light cloud floating in the sky.

So, it is easy to understand why in the song "The sky is as light as a cloud", Ngo Thanh Van wrote: "taking a step back/it seems like I am moving forward/every road is vast and long/The sky is as light as a warm cloud/gently drifting a pair of pure wishes".

Perhaps, many readers, like me, have beautiful emotions when their eyes touch these verses. As for me, I read the entire book of poems in one go to “find” the poem that bears the book’s title or at least the intentional repetition of the word “Vân không” as in the above verse. However, I absolutely could not find it. And I suppose that this is the author’s intention. To let each sentence, each word penetrate the reader’s heart once more.

Of course, that thought is expressed by Ngo Thanh Van in most of the poems in the collection. The image of clouds with different variations is mentioned over and over again, containing different meanings, as if moving to become a symbol. Some poems that can be mentioned are: On the clouds, Returning the vast blue days, White clouds, Then you are like the vast clouds, Songs of the clouds... Therefore, the image of "Van khong" not only shows the smooth, free flow, not entangled in worldly dust but also expresses warmth, closeness, and interaction. As the poet said: "You are silent, only speaking words from your eyes/but filled with a sea of affection".

Commenting on the poetry collection, Associate Professor-PhD Ngo Van Gia said: “Van’s poems before “Van Khong” were full of torment and contemplation. In “Van Khong”, Van’s poems are calmer, like drifting clouds, like “very gentle flowers and grass” . This creates a new feature compared to Van’s previous poetry collections.”

Literary critic Hoang Dang Khoa said: “Van Khong” is Ngo Thanh Van’s poetic pilgrimage through the precarious realms of fate and emotions, to find some relief of the soul. The poetic words are simple and honest but rich in musicality, sometimes heavy and sorrowful, sometimes free and airy, like clouds with no fixed shape. Each person’s life is a baggage of nothingness. Ten white fingers waving at white clouds. Just live lightly. Like Van Khong…”.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/ung-dung-thanh-than-giua-may-troi-post567477.html