Dong Hoi in the mind of poet Xuan Hoang

(QBĐT) - Poet Xuan Hoang used to live in Hanoi , Hue, Ho Chi Minh City, but wherever he was, he always remembered Dong Hoi - the place where he was born and raised, the place where he had a long-term attachment and contributed significantly to making his name in the literary world. It can be said that his best, most romantic, most poignant poems are the ones he wrote about beloved Dong Hoi. Dong Hoi is always in his mind.

Since leaving the Literature Publishing House (in 1961) to work in Quang Binh , poet Xuan Hoang has breathed new life into his hometown's literature and arts. He is a talented, honest, open-minded and romantic poet. Dong Hoi, formerly known as the "rose town", has a very charming beauty, and through him it is even more charming.

Let's see him describe Bau Tro in the sixties of the last century:

Peaceful Bau Tro afternoon

The lake is peaceful and quiet, the afternoon smoke rises

The golden sand listens to the sound of the ocean

Quail wings cut through the sky

(Afternoon at Bau Tro)

The image of “quail wings cutting through the sky” now only remains in Xuan Hoang’s poems. The verse reminds us of Bau Tro when it was still wild. The elders in Dong Hoi reading these verses of his poems feel as if the distant past is coming back to them.

And here are the verses he wrote about Nhat Le river mouth:

Seagulls hovering around me,

The wave door opened a ray of light.

The seaside town rests on the sun,

Suddenly swaying as if wanting to fly .

(One way to Dong Hoi)

One must go to Bao Ninh, when "the shadow slowly leans to the west", standing on the balcony of a high-rise building observing, to fully appreciate the beauty and subtlety of these verses.

Also at the mouth of the Nhat Le River, the poet once walked with a beautiful woman in a truly poetic scene: Just one step and our feet are close to the edge of the waves/The sea and the shore. In the middle, we walk (The sea and the shore). Along the coast, there are golden sand dunes and clusters of four-season flowers: You walk on the sunny hilltop/All around you are the fragrant words of flowers (Talking about four-season flowers again). Even during the war, Dong Hoi never lost those poetic moments: The small town of our hometown is awake with many memories/The tuberose fragrance lingers in the long hours/Go away, your shadow is hidden in the shadow of the sea/A gentle poem, I will come to sleep on your shoulder (Dong Hoi Epic). These are verses that have been passed down by many generations of readers.

During the period when the US escalated its bombing of the North (1964-1972), Dong Hoi Town was almost leveled by bombs and bullets, leaving only the bell tower of Tam Toa Church and the water tower standing alone among the rubble and ruins. Poet Xuan Hoang painfully exclaimed: Is there any reason why steel from so many places/Has gathered in one narrow area? Every time he saw B.52 planes carpet bombing from the evacuation site (in Phu Vinh hamlet, Con), his heart ached: Three consecutive waves forming a B.52 lightning zone/No matter how far away, that is still Dong Hoi/In the firelight, his heart resounded with the call:/Dong Hoi! Dong Hoi!

The poet speaks for the deep feelings of the children of Dong Hoi during the days when they were forced to leave their homeland:

We go

take Dong Hoi to many places

In sleep, the sound of hatred is still awake

Where there is fire, there is lightning

Burning call:

My Dong Hoi!

(Sent to Dong Hoi)

He devoted all his energy to writing a whole epic poem about Dong Hoi. Among them, there are some passages that many people have mentioned, quoted, and commented on. Personally, I am very fond of the following four lines of poetry:

I will come back to build my hometown Dong Hoi.

Will replant roses on the old path

Dahlias bloom again in spring

Gold medal in every home court.

At the time when the war was taking place extremely fiercely, the poet was still optimistic, still maintaining a strong belief in the final victory. We will return to rebuild our hometown Dong Hoi/We will replant roses on the old path - this helps me understand more why Dong Hoi is known as the "rose town". Dong Hoi people love roses. That tradition has been preserved until now. Besides roses, after the victory day, Dong Hoi people also love dahlias because the color and shape of dahlias resemble the shape and color of medals. In the life-and-death fight with the enemy, Dong Hoi people in particular and the Vietnamese people in general deserve to be awarded the Victory Medal. Therefore: Dahlias bloom again in spring/Gold medals in every yard. That is a very unique idea of the poet.

Dong Hoi in the mind of poet Xuan Hoang is not only expressed through poetry but also through the memoir Echoes of Not-So-Distant Times . At the end of his life, he and his family settled in Ho Chi Minh City. In a letter, he confided to me: "Sometimes I miss Dong Hoi so much, I miss it so much that I go crazy." Once, missing it so much, he risked his life to escape his wife and children and "take the road" to his hometown, causing Mrs. Binh (his wife) to panic and call everywhere. Knowing that he was in Dong Hoi, she hurriedly flew out to "accompany" him back to Saigon.

On the day he left this world, I quickly wrote a few lines to bid him farewell, recalling his thoughts about Dong Hoi: Looking at the cluster of four-season flowers/I keep thinking of you/The tuberoses of the old town/Fragrant throughout the war/Dong Hoi with roses/The sails of the Nhat Le River/“Echoes of not-so-distant times”/Recalling the years of youth…

Mai Van Hoan

Source: https://www.baoquangbinh.vn/van-hoa/202411/dong-hoi-trong-tam-thuc-nha-tho-xuan-hoang-2222565/