The harmony in the not so old poetry collection

Re-reading 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 are also the emotions in the poems of authors who are in their mid-life and are filled with nostalgia, dreams and concerns. With a presentation format, the 18x19cm size of artist Nguyen Quoc Chanh is 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", very romantic: "When it rains, the rain wets both heads/ Don't let the rain wet me alone, it hurts...". But before working with his brothers to create this collection of Tran Trong, Ho Viet Khue, even with the time that has passed, 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 behind/ 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 do people, in life, love and miss each other, but 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 roses (story collection - 1994), In the sea (short story - 1995) about topics for children in the coastal area 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 (Writers Association Publishing House - 2015) being his first poetry collection, I know that he is right, despite his wanderings and the bitterness and sweetness of life, Ho Viet Khue's poetry still has a smooth, romantic sky of love until later.

I will always remember the thin image of Nguyen Dinh (real name Tran Cong Diec) every time he went to La Gi, stopped by with his literary friends to call each other, raised his glass to call... but I knew 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.

In 15 poems by Nguyen Dinh in the collection "Than Trong", I could not help but feel sorry for his despair: "Of course you already have a husband/ I would not have suddenly held a dream/ If only I had waited and waited/ Without you, I would still be foolish in this world" (Of course) - Knowing the tragedy of his life, I could fully appreciate these lines of poetry, still sparkling like tears. I secretly thought that Nguyen Dinh's love poems were sad petals on his magical artistic palette.

With Ngo Dinh Mien in Tran 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 of publishing Tran Trong, read and feel the eternal reality but "sparkle" with extremely 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 regain my youth" (Hoi Xuan). Only those who have spent years in the high mountains and deep forests like this can write: "Drinking wine 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 seeing the shadow of drunkenness" (Drinking wine at night on La Da suspension bridge).

Later, the private poetry collections Loi Ru 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 anguish of love, life with simple poetic language, rich in emotion. 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 opportunity 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 with a troubled feeling: Sinking" (Floating). Or more quietly: "The sun sets to hold the afternoon/ The moon rises and scatters 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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