08:56, 11/12/2023
(Reading the poetry collection "Eternal Blue Sky" by Tran Pho, Writers Association Publishing House - October 2023)
After reading the poetry collection “Mien vien troi xanh” by Tran Pho, sitting and thinking, I see that his love in his poems is also very eternal. This eternity is not only present in this new poetry collection, but also exists, very fertilely in all three of his previous poetry collections: “Hoa trong co”, “Tham thuc cung chich chim” and “Dung dinh trang ve”.
Indeed, love, the most prominent issue in Tran Pho's poetry, is endless. It is the love of children for their parents, the love of brothers and friends, the love of the homeland and country.
For Tran Pho, that love not only comes from the heart but is also nurtured and sublimated from his way of life and his courage to live - a person who understands himself and life. Thanks to that, he has built for himself a spiritual foundation to live leisurely and freely.
This is clearly shown in the poetry collection “Eternal Blue Sky”: “No longer dreaming of the vast sky and sea/ The land of wandering is loving all people” (page 28), “And the flowers and grass are still green, the life of flowers and grass/ I am small and still small/ I have to stay like that, sadness and happiness are small things/ I am still leisurely in the human world” (page 31).
Because he understands himself and life, he knows how to be patient and persevere in facing all adversities to rise up and enjoy life, to affirm himself: “Bruised with storms and winds/ standing tall with the pain/ Pine trees, oh pine trees, keep the deep forest green/ Singing and playing with the sun and dew” (page 33). And that is why his birthday is always beautiful: “The garden is filled with sunshine/ A part of the sky is bustling/ The tree stretches its branches of kindness/ Singing happy birthday to me” (page 29).
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Thanks to his leisurely, carefree lifestyle and positive outlook on life, the love in Tran Pho's poetry is "firmly rooted" to grow "eternal" branches. He has verses expressing his feelings for his parents on the day he returns to visit their graves after many years away, very profound and poignant: "Confused, I return to my homeland/ The old house has been sold for a long time/ The red incense sticks burn in the afternoon of Long Phung/ The red incense sticks make my heart ache in the heavens!" (page 43); or: "The stones of life's road push me away forever/ I return to my old home with nostalgia/ Looking for my father, looking for my mother, looking for my foolish poetry/ Far away/ Sorrowful/ Soaked in wind and rain!" (page 46).
As a son of Quang Ngai, he had to leave his hometown for more than half a century to go to Dak Lak to earn a living, but his heart always turned to his hometown, thinking about his hometown, especially during the period when the country and his hometown were undergoing many changes. Many nights he had trouble sleeping, restless with nostalgia: “Is our But Mountain still green? / Is the Lao wind still blowing across Cam Thanh? / Is the beloved Tra River still bustling with the sound of waves? / Oh straw, how much do I miss you!” (page 62).
Not only expressing his love for his homeland, Tran Pho's poetry also deeply feels for the land of Dak Lak, the place he chose as his second homeland. And so his poetry is also enthusiastic, rejoicing with the land and people here: "Birds compete to sing, durian flowers are fragrant/ White wings fly, fruits sprout on the branches/ Spring wind comes to caress the lover/ The lover's eyes sparkle passionately" (page 69). "Lak lake elephants stretch their trunks, showing off their corn/ Cong Ban Don spreads his wings and wags his tail/ The plateau says to the plateau:/ All the young buds of the plateau can/ Fulfill their dreams under the sunlight" (page 89).
Tran Pho did not pay much attention to love poems, but the love poems in this collection of poems make the reader unable to help but be "dazed" with the author: "The path of love is like a lush tree/ Your feet are pink and young/ The stones have been sleeping for a long time/ Suddenly the eyes are round/ Dazed" (page 42). The eyes of the poet in his "seventies" are so youthful, pure, fresh, passionate and delicate!
Saying that Tran Pho's poetry is "eternally affectionate" does not mean that he immerses himself in it to forget about worldly affairs. The difference with Tran Pho is that when writing about worldly affairs, unlike many people who often "talk big", Tran Pho's pen is quite profound, profound but profound: "The toad at the cave entrance often brags/ The crane flies in the sky but remains silent!" (page 77). He warns about the deforestation and tree cutting that is happening every day, about the irresponsibility and self-innocence of all people and authorities that makes the living environment increasingly unsafe with a short poem that seems "gentle", but makes readers feel "uneasy" with him: "At five o'clock the birds are singing/ At five o'clock the flowers are fragrant/ At five o'clock the saws roar/ The trees fall/ Tragic/ I ask the silence why the forest is being destroyed/ A moment of silence, an unusual silence/ My heart has an unclear feeling/ It seems to be uneasy!" (page 106).
The characteristic of Tran Pho's poems is that they are short. Each poem has a clear idea. It seems that he only picks up his pen when his emotions about a certain issue are about to overflow. According to the comment of literary critic Le Thanh Van, "Each poem in the collection of poems "Mien vien troi xanh" is a beautiful artistic whole in terms of content and form, especially the quatrain poems that reach perfection". The quatrain poem titled "Tang em" below is a specific example: "No age, no right or wrong/ Talent, beauty, we are in each other's hearts!/ No logic, no before or after/ Love is remembering, is painful with love". That is Tran Pho's way of life in poetry, and in life too!
Dang Ba Tien
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