Moss alley in Hoi An

Deep and profound
Mossy alleys in the city
My childhood was spent playing tag
Run from Phan Chu Trinh, through Cuong De, through Nguyen Thai Hoc, and out to the windy riverbank.
The wind blows up from the Hoai River, blue, refreshing, cool…

ILLUSTRATION: VAN NGUYEN

Alley in Hoi An
It's a whole secret world of children growing up in the city.
That world has the sound of summer crickets chirping
Colorful betta fish swish their tails in the deep ancient well.
crystal clear water
The sound of the bucket hitting the well wall makes a clinking sound on clear moonlit nights.
The sound of a stray cat meowing on the yin-yang tiled roof of an old house
The clear and long-lasting sound of duck egg vendors selling eggs at night...

Quiet and immense
The alley is sometimes as naive as a naive first love.
Shy sticky rice with corn vinegar
The sound of wooden clogs hesitated on the deserted street
There is a longing that I don't know how to name.
There is a person standing in the corner of a deep alley waiting for someone who never comes.
Only the silent night is as long as fate
The sound of mosquitoes buzzing sadly and painfully...

Alleys of Hoi An
Is the lifeblood of the city
Is human life.
The alley is as familiar as the lines in the palm of your hand.
Close your eyes and still remember every corner
This corner when I was a kid, I skipped school to play when I was ten.
This corner was beaten by mother, so I crawled in and sat crying.
This corner is where I take out comics to read at noon.
This corner is the first time I held your hand
This corner covered my face and cried silently when you said goodbye…

The grown-up and the one who goes away
The old go and the ones stay
No one stays in the city forever
No one leaves the city without returning.
The road is several miles long and the mountains and streams are vast…

The alley is still there, silent as witnesses.
With the sun, with the wind, and the moss green with the years, with the seasons…

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hem-reu-o-hoi-an-tho-cua-dinh-le-vu-185250301151400143.htm