One day like a life

Le Manh Binh’s poetry is beautiful and heartbreakingly beautiful. That is his nature. Or to put it another way: His poetry is full of nature. Reading his poetry, we can see that: “Memories, no matter how old, never grow old” is true.

His poems lead us back to the silences of memories that still resonate somewhere, haunt somewhere, and last forever somewhere, whether in Thien Cam, in Sa Pa, in Gam River or Luc Thuy Lake, whether it happened in the early 20th century or recently. Space (“here”) and time (“now”) seem to not change much and are often constant in his poems.

Rarely is there anyone who, just by looking at “The Water Retreat Season”, can be as beautiful as him, as clear as him: “The river of rice seedlings still runs on the old path/ two yellow streaks winding along the green heart/ the girl visiting the fields holds a pole in the middle/ thinking of gliding on a blue silk cloth” . Rarely is there anyone who, just by looking at the silence of life, can be as beautiful as him, as poetic as him: “Which smoke is spreading on the thatched roof/ someone’s laughter is spreading lightly in the tea garden/ the shadows of people stretch along the cliff/ despite a thousand years of rain and sun” (“Silence”). That is his “seeing”. His “feeling” is much deeper through “Nostalgia”: “The sweetness of milk from the blooming rice/ from the warm soil rushes up.../ on the way back, still lingering.../ Intoxicated by the sound of trees and grass moving...” . His love is a passion, an immense regret. A passing by in life also makes him torment himself: “I still wonder/ why I went to a foreign land/ but did not promise to return/ now it has become so far away/ If only you were still the same/ I would still be the same as before” (“Country of the Other”). A date, meeting, confiding with the person he loves also makes him remember forever: “I remember the rows of Bach Thao trees/ casting golden shadows on the calm lake/ we talked about so many things/ when we returned, the sky had turned to night” (“ Hanoi and You”). A farewell also makes him sad: “You leave like the scent of the wind/ drifting with autumn/ leaving behind waiting docks/ in the misty smoke” (“Beauty in the war zone”)...

The sense of time and the sense of season in Le Manh Binh's poetry is also strange. In him, spring is the "season of restlessness" with "shy hesitations", summer is the season calling us in with "burning passion", "autumn is the dry season / feeling the distant bustle" , winter is "the season of hearing falling leaves / nostalgic like an echo" and then "drifting along with the seasons of love". For him, time is a moment of mood, of the sweet, bitter and sour that everyone must experience in life, everyone must open their hearts: "People count the time falling drop by drop / the sound of the watch is sparse and quiet / what has not yet stopped being cold / what is still quietly stirring" ("Silent Waves").

In “The Circle of Life”, “A Day Like a Lifetime” is a profound verse, not easy to write. The phrase “A Day Like a Lifetime” in particular is short, condensed, and full of meaning. Just those five words, but they carry philosophical and emotional depth. The verse evokes the feeling that a day is a life, meaning that each day that passes is a “shortened version” of a whole life. A day passes, and a life seems to have just passed. In the Buddhist or Zen perspective, the verse can also be understood as a reminder: “Living a full day is living a full life”. Because human life is impermanent, every moment can be the last. Living a full day means living consciously and mindfully, not giving in to waste, anger, or ignorance. Depending on the context, the verse can also sound like a sigh. For experienced people, a day can last as long as a life.

Le Manh Binh's poetry is rich in emotion, has a natural and transparent beauty. He does not rely on his profession and does not abuse techniques, is not fussy in choosing words and constructing sentences. He just focuses on himself, on his life when writing. He takes personal experience and sincerity as the strengths of his poetry and writes with such passion. It is worth mentioning that up to now, Le Manh Binh has published 3 collections of poetry including "Fate of man", "Flying clouds" and "Circle of life", all published by the Writers' Association Publishing House and this year, he turned 86 years old.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/mot-ngay-nhu-mot-doi-709750.html