Poet Quang Hoai: I tell myself every day

In addition to new works, "Before Sunset" also compiles a number of articles by fellow writers about his poetry.

As poet Nguyen Quang Hung said, Quang Hoai is an optimist who forgets his age. Not only that, he's so optimistic he forgets he's suffering from a serious illness. In 2024, he released the collection "Selected Poems of Quang Hoai"; in 2025, he published a pair of "twin" works: "Before Sunset" and "Every Day I Become a New Me." Thus, Quang Hoai's literary legacy now includes 20 individual works and 70 works published in groups.

Quang Hoài is kind-hearted, dedicated, and committed to his work. His poetry, therefore, reflects the emotional spectrum of his experiences with life. “The earthly world is not yet free from its debts / How can one easily close one's eyes and let go of this world?” (“Tomorrow I Leave the Temporary Realm”). This explains why, at the age of eighty, despite suffering from a serious illness, the poet Quang Hoài continues to write. He wrote the poem “Tomorrow I Leave the Temporary Realm” in 2023, while undergoing cancer treatment at Military Hospital 108.

“There is such a land/ The land of Hoai Phuong/ With the land and water/ With the land and clouds/ In the vast ocean of life” (“The Land of Hoai Phuong”); “Being human is not easy/ Before light and darkness, good and evil/ Quang Son is the Bright Mountain/ Bringing light to our ancestors” (“Bringing light to our ancestors”). His wife, teacher Ha Thi Phuong, became his “emotional realm”; his grandson, Nguyen Quang Son, inspired his poetry. It is evident that Quang Hoai was a follower of the original “family ideology”. He wrote about his father, mother, wife, and grandson with all his gratitude and hope.

Quang Hoài was also a poet full of contemplation and reflection. Or, to put it another way, his soul was moved by the ephemeral beauty of nature. “A bird struggles to fly / when it is far from the earth / when it is farthest from the sky / that's when it flies gracefully” (“Rambling Thoughts”); “A person living alone / without anyone living beside them / how can they know human feelings?” (“Everlasting Grass”); “A storm within us / a tempest within us / From within the darkness / looking out into the darkness” (“In the Realm of Delusion and Ignorance”).

Through observing nature and reflecting on one's own being, he recognized the laws of society. In Buddhist philosophy, these are birth, existence, decay, and death; emphasizing the impermanent nature of things, the constant change, and the fact that nothing lasts forever. From the realization , "The path to the Buddha's land is far away / The true Buddha is in the midst of life with us!" ("Again, the Human Dream"), Quang Hoài's poetry is like a prayer for enlightenment.

Quang Hoài confided: “I love poetry. During my forty-two years in the army, I wrote poetry, but it felt ‘out of place,’ as poet Trần Đăng Khoa remarked. Perhaps I only wrote about what had settled into my memory, what lingered in my soul, so it came to me late?... Writing poetry is primarily for myself, then for others. To have someone share it, even just one person, is a source of happiness.”

It's true that it's "late," because his first poetry collection, "Prayer," was published in 2002, when he was already 57 years old. However, poetry has no concept of "early" or "late" time; there is no "new" or "old," the fundamental issue is whether the poetry is good or bad. A good poem, once published, will have a "life of its own" beyond the author's control.

“The literary pursuit clings to me, never letting go / Years pass, buds bloom / How many more springs await the ripening of the fruit / Yet, empty fame dreams of dazzling splendor” (“Blazing Dream”) – Quang Hoài reminded himself of this, but he recognized the beauty of poetry, its mission in life. More importantly, he was always troubled by his country and homeland, and felt sorrow for the unfortunate. “Oh, vast heavens and earth / Why did you create humankind / to give them love, to give them hate / to give them tears, to give them laughter?!”

The poet Nguyen Trong Tao once said that as long as poets can still feel surprise, they can still write poetry, and people can still love poetry. Love and hate in society are still reflected in his soul. More importantly, Quang Hoai still knows how to feel surprise, so he will certainly continue to search for answers about love and hate.

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