Words of the wind - words of tears and smiles

I was fortunate to receive the manuscript of my epic poem "Words of the Wind" (part of the epic poem-poem collection "Mother Sitting by the Window" - pictured) from my dear brother and colleague, the poet and journalist Tran The Tuyen, with a simple, unpretentious message: "Please read and give your feedback." Of course I read it, but I didn't dare to "feed it with my own opinion." The following words I write are in my capacity as a reader and as a younger brother of the poet Tran The Tuyen.

Tran The Tuyen and his generation, like the generations before them, were born and raised without ever seeing a university lecture hall before having to take up arms and cross the bomb-ridden Truong Son Mountains. They fought the enemy while simultaneously practicing journalism and writing poetry whenever possible, contributing to the historic victory of April 30, 1975.

It was his rich life experiences, filled with suffering, loss, fierce battles, brutal anti-invasion campaigns, and intense malaria, that gave Tran The Tuyen a proud body of journalistic and literary work. To date, he has 17 books in various genres including poetry, epics, short stories, and memoirs. His epics include: Behind the Sun, Wind Blowing Through Memories, and Mother…

The new epic poem, "Words of the Wind," is imbued with epic qualities, heroic, soaring, and profound, encompassing a vast dimension of time and space. The image of the wind in the epic seems to blow across the country, permeating through sections such as: "From the mountains and forests of Tay Ninh ," "From the fields/ Towards the Southwest, the bloody Battle of Cau Voi," "Wind from Vam Co Dong," "Wind in the Independence Palace," to "Wind in the border region," "Wind and the roaring waves of Thu Thiem," "Wind from Nha Rong Wharf." Tran The Tuyen recounts the country, its people, war, loss, suffering, victory, and pride.

These are images, details that are simple, touching, and full of beauty: “The wind follows the troops from the Central Highlands mountains/ From the Northwest, it sweeps into the city/ The Đồng Dù and Lái Thiêu... are still there/ The smoke from the bombs hasn't cleared, but the swallows have already flown back”… or “There is a mother in Saigon searching for her children/ Bảy, Ba, Năm, Sáu.../ Peace has come, where are you, my beloved children?/ Come home, your mother will cook sour soup.”

The winds of war that the nation, and Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City, had to endure and overcome did not stop there: “The joy was not yet complete after the day of complete victory / The enemy in the Southwest brought painful border fires / Lo Go, Xom Giua, Tan Bien / Ba Chuc, Tinh Bien, Hong Ngu…” and “The sound of gunfire has echoed…/ On the seventeenth day of February that year / A blood-red border strip of Ky Cung…”.

Reading "Words of the Wind," we hear the gentle, profound sounds, as well as the roaring, burning cries of "the waves in the depths / the waves on the surface" (Waves - Xuan Quynh). The poetic imagery is beautiful, sometimes fierce, but behind the words, images, and metaphors lies the poet's heartfelt, passionate love; the responsibility of an exemplary citizen, full of anxieties and compassion.

With his epic poem "Words of the Wind," Tran The Tuyen has offered a truly meaningful gift to the country and Ho Chi Minh City on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the city officially being named after the beloved President Ho Chi Minh (July 2, 1976 - July 2, 2026): "The wind from Nha Rong Port blows fiercely / The city bears His name / Fifty years of brilliance."

Associate Professor, Doctor of Science, writer Nguyen The Ky

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/loi-cua-gio-loi-cua-nuoc-mat-nu-cuoi-post852178.html