Beneath the whispering pine trees

With its vast pine forests, valleys, lakes, misty mornings, drizzling rains, and cool afternoon sun, Da Lat has long been a romantic getaway. Da Lat has inspired countless artists and writers to create poems, songs, paintings, photographs, and even served as the setting for many films.

The inspiration from Da Lat in poetry seems endless for successive generations who visit this place. Author Ngoc Miu sees in Da Lat: "In the mist, in the cold wind, in a desolate land of fog / Only our pine trees remain silently beside us / So that we can look up / And slowly inhale a breath / From the sky above." And author Phan Khoa Nam hears: "The lonely bird, heartbroken, doesn't know / The enchanting song of the bird, endlessly interwoven / Drunk, / Falling, / in the deep valley…"

SGGP newspaper introduces two poems by authors Ngoc Miu and Phan Khoa Nam about the place name Da Lat, among many poems that have drawn inspiration from this location.

Only pine branches remain.
Without the pine trees
Perhaps we have collapsed and died.
Because what will I use to look up and breathe?
In the mist, in the cold wind, in a desolate land of fog.
Only my pine tree remains silently beside me.
So that we can look up
And slowly take a breath in.
From up there
Under the tree
Everything has turned to ashes.
Including time
And what we once cherished most
Only a few fragments of fantastical, unreal fiction remain.
It emitted a heart-wrenching sound.
There's nothing left to look forward to.
The leaves we see up there are also withering because of lies.

Okay, let's stop here!
So that my pine tree will not droop with sadness any longer.
Give me even just half.
The baby's breath was so fresh and pure.
NGOC MIU
***
Birdsong in the Valley
Mythical bird,
singing songs about the bird whose heart aches for being separated from its flock.
A foggy afternoon in the valley
The crowd fell silent.
Darkness shot up
The faces were blurred in the candlelight.
Who walked through the layers of weeds?
who got soaked several times in the rain
someone slipped and fell under the muddy ground.
still innocent
keep rubbing,
The bird, heartbroken and separated from its flock, didn't know...
The song of the mythical bird continues endlessly.
drunk,
fall,
in the deep valley…
PHAN KHOA NAM