Rereading the so-called old poetry collections of fellow poets in the Bình Thuận poetry garden allows one to feel the innocence and dreams of a bygone era. A wave of emotion suddenly washed over me when I read the poetry collection "Trân Trọng" (Respect), published by Nhà xuất bản Trẻ (Youth Publishing House) at the end of 1998, 25 years ago.
"Trân Trọng" includes authors Nguyên Đình (1939), Ngô Đình Miên (1954), Hồ Việt Khuê (1952), and Nguyễn Thạnh (1956)... Compared to the limited space for literature and printing conditions at that time in the locality, these poems nonetheless reflect the sentiments of authors in their mid-life years, filled with nostalgia, dreams, and anxieties. Presented in an eye-catching and impressive geometric style, the 18x19cm format by artist Nguyễn Quốc Chánh is both visually appealing and impressive.
Fortunately for me, I know all the poets in this collection, though I wouldn't dare call them close friends because I don't fully understand the quiet anxieties and worries within each of them. However, I had previously encountered Ho Viet Khue's poetry in the "Dat Moi" magazine of the Binh Tuy Literature and Arts group (1973) under the pen name Ho Ta Don, through two poems he wrote when he was around 20 years old: "Waving Goodbye to Doi Duong" and "Afternoon Sheltering from the Rain at Mui Ne Market," truly romantic: "If it rains, let the rain wet both our heads / Don't let the rain wet me alone, it would break my heart…". But before collaborating with his friends on this collection, "Tran Trong," Ho Viet Khue, even with the passage of time, still retained that seemingly indifferent yet captivating quality in his poetry. He wrote: “Rolling up my trousers, I stepped into the pond covered with water lilies / Your legs were so white, fish followed me with their fins / You went home, unaware / I sat fishing all day yesterday” (Jealousy), or even more passionately: “At the head of the river, you bathed naked / At the end of the river, the water flowed hesitantly in two” (Love). Rarely does anyone, in their life, experience love and longing, yet have to gaze absentmindedly at the end of the river to see it “flowing hesitantly in two.” When Ho Viet Khue became a member of the Vietnam Writers Association (2006) and quietly and diligently devoted himself to prose: “The Heart-Necked Traditional Vietnamese Dress” (short story collection - 1993), “Is There Anything to Give a Rose For?” (short story collection - 1994), “At the Sea” (novella - 1995) on themes for childhood in his coastal hometown, and also worked as a reporter for Tien Phong newspaper with his energetic and uninhibited style, it's easy to think his poetic soul would soon become “dry and barren,” making it difficult for poetry lovers to remember him. However, with the poetry collection "Grass" (Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House - 2015), which is his first poetry collection, I know I'm not wrong about him; no matter how much he wanders through life's ups and downs, Ho Viet Khue's poetry still holds a smooth, dreamy realm of love that lasts even later in life.
I vividly remember the thin figure of Nguyen Dinh (real name Tran Cong Diec) on his visits to La Gi, stopping by to chat with fellow artists, raising a glass to say... but I knew to let him go wherever he pleased... That was his private matter. He was from Quang Nam but had a strong connection to Phan Thiet, Binh Thuan, his wife's hometown, since before 1975. At that time, he had just graduated from the Gia Dinh National College of Fine Arts with a major in silk painting and from the Saigon Faculty of Literature. He was hired to teach drawing at Phan Boi Chau High School (Phan Thiet). Ho Viet Khue was his student in painting class from the 7th to 4th grade (equivalent to grades 6-9 later). With his talent in painting, Tran Cong Diec won the Saigon Fine Arts Prize (1962), the Indian National Fine Arts Prize (1965), and the first Duc Thanh Binh Thuan Arts Award in 1997 - a B prize - with his work "Mother's Love" (silk). The life of the talented artist Tran Cong Diec has gone through many harsh and tragic twists and turns.
In Nguyên Đình's 15 poems in the collection "Trân Trọng" (Respectfully), I couldn't help but feel sorrow for his despair: "Of course you already have a husband / It's not without reason that I'm carrying this dream / If only I had waited / Without you, I would still be foolish in this world" (Of course). Knowing the tragedy of his life, one can truly understand these lines, still glistening like tears. I secretly think that Nguyên Đình's love poems are sad petals on the wondrous canvas of his art.
With Ngo Dinh Mien's poems in "Tran Trong," I was completely surprised by the emotions and romanticism of teacher Mien, who once bathed in streams in the La Da forest and drank wine at night in Dong Giang… Ngo Dinh Mien's poems, possibly written before 1998, the year "Tran Trong" was published, reveal a timeless reality that is also "sparkling" with such beautiful lines: "Sweeping leaves in this courtyard on a winter morning / The wind is heavy with mist, are you cold? / The courtyard is full of fallen flowers like the color of fire / Your broom gathers a glowing hearth" (Bougainvillea). Or with a question that is not at all vague: "Yellow leaves fall, new green shoots appear / I shed my age, asking if spring will return" (Asking Spring). Only those years spent in such remote, mountainous, and forested places could write: “Drinking wine at night on a suspension bridge, swaying in a hammock / On the river, a cold, bright stream of moonlight / You are hazy and the spring mist blurs white / I embrace you - only encountering the shadow of intoxication” (Drinking Wine at Night on the La Dạ Suspension Bridge).
Later, his individual poetry collections, *Lullaby of White Hair* (2007), *The Opposite Side* (2008), *Innocent Six-Eight Verse* (2009), and *Scattering Chalk on the Sky* (2022), truly showcased Ngo Dinh Mien's rich poetic source, expressing the yearnings of love and life with straightforward, emotionally rich poetic language. However, it would be remiss not to mention his collection of essays, *Stepping Onto Red Flowers* (Literature Publishing House - 2011), which won the 5th Duc Thanh Literary Award in 2017 (B Prize - no A Prize awarded). It addresses many issues of life and scholarship with clear and decisive insight. This also reflects his personality and lifestyle.
My "special" poet friend Nguyen Thanh is quite impressive - I only had the opportunity to get close to him about a year ago through his poetry collection "Poems Written on the Edge of the Universe" (Literature Publishing House - 2011). But compared to the time with the poets from Binh Thuan in "Respect" (1998), Nguyen Thanh's poetry easily made an impression with its rather powerful expressive style: "Behind the sea, there is something left unsaid / The mountain's form sits with a lingering sorrow: Suffering" (Drifting). Or more tranquil: "The setting sun clings to the evening / The rising moon scatters countless golden particles / Boats return to the vast river / Let my soul mingle with the golden color of the moon" (Moon).
This old poetry collection by four friends, each with their own style and life story, yet united by a shared sentiment that Nguyen Thanh encapsulated in the poem "Respect," which is also the title of the collection: "I cherish every thread of misfortune that surrounds me / I cherish every leaf lying in the earth / I cherish every tiny piece of flesh / of the lost insect."
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