The days of reflection at the beginning of the year...

The first days of the new year always evoke many emotions in each person, reflecting on lingering regrets from the past year and hopes for the new year.

As seen in the poems of Le Minh Vu, the New Year is a time for questions like "Should I go home?", followed by the self-answer, "Homeland is one, nothing separates us." In Trung Dung KQD's poetry, however, the New Year is a time of loneliness and longing: "The year has an extra moment at midnight / The farewell is also an extra parting..."

The SGGP newspaper presents the farewells to the old year and the welcoming of the new year in the poems of Le Minh Vu and Trung Dung KQD, all as a self-reflection on time, which never truly stops…

Homeland is one and the same, no separation is possible.

Are you going back to your hometown? Are you going back to your hometown?

The year is drawing to a close, and Tet (Lunar New Year) is just around the corner.

My hometown, with its thatched roof and bamboo walls.

Four seasons of scorching sun and raging storms, leaving everything desolate.

***

My homeland, so far away, I miss it so much.

A good place attracts good birds, and lullabies are filled with warmth.

Settling down and establishing a livelihood in the Eastern region

Are you coming home? Are you coming home? Homeland!

***

I don't dream of a bustling city.

They are as close as blood relatives.

Distant relatives, close neighbors

In the darkest of times, we need each other.

***

Look, my dear, a new day is dawning!

Homeland is one and the same, no separation is possible.

Even though we're far apart, we still feel very close.

My homeland, a place of boundless love.

Le Minh Vu

---

Excess

I have you all to myself.

A few raindrops, too many, become a rain shower.

Five minutes before midnight

Saying goodbye with an unnecessary farewell is also...

I am the only one left.

I'm still left over... one person.

Trung Dung KQD

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nhung-ngay-tran-tro-dau-nam-post831888.html