Author - Work: Love the sea and islands through the poetry collection "Dropping Anchor"

( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - “Buong Neo” is the 16th collection of poems by Bui Minh Vu (Writers Association Publishing House, August 2024). Each poem in the collection “Buong Neo” illuminates beautiful images, filled with love for the sea and islands of the Fatherland, especially for the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.

Bui Minh Vu was born in a coastal village in Duc Loi commune (Mo Duc), so since childhood he had deep experiences and feelings about the sea. For that reason, he wrote poems that people who do not understand the sea can hardly think of: "My mother wishes to marry the sea as her husband/ In the afternoon, she honestly sits and picks up each wave foam/ My father dreams of marrying the sea as his wife/ At night, he is busy fishing" (Where am I). And the charming beauty of the sea is also discovered quite uniquely: "The sea's long dress flutters/ The waves of my mother's hair flutter/ The wind brushes my shoulders/ On the bodies of my flock" (Concept).

The poetry collection “Buong Neo” by Bui Minh Vu consists of 113 short poems focusing on the theme of Vietnam’s seas and islands. Each poem illuminates beautiful images, filled with love for the seas and islands, especially for the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos: “The old fisherman smiles like the Hoang Sa sea water/ Saltier than blood/ And believes/ The coral reefs can speak” (Cannot tell exactly). “After midnight/ The fish and I shake hands/ Heading towards Truong Sa, longing for” (Fieldwork at sea). The author wrote about Ly Son island - the departure place of the Hoang Sa fleet in the past: “The lighthouse’s bright shadow/ Passes over the body/ Persistently rolling along the waves/ Walking back to the Be island patiently” (Bright shadow). Loving the sea and islands, Bui Minh Vu discovered radiant and proud beauty, from "The green almond fruits/... Keep you proud..." to "I lift the white coral from your hands/ As calm as the waves of Da Tay island" (At this moment), "The strong branches/ Embrace the island in your arms/ On a stormy day/ Your face is as beautiful as a saint" (On Da Tay island).

Reading “Buong Neo”, I feel that each poem is an anchor, an anchor firmly maintaining the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland. A square banyan tree on the island also represents the soul of the nation and ancestors: "I stand/ Beside the towering square banyan tree/ Thinking I am living/ In the middle of the capital" (At this moment). The radiant smiles of the island soldiers are like sovereignty milestones, making the heroic tradition of fighting foreign invaders shine brighter, recalling the Bach Dang river stakes of the past: "A smile illuminates the island/ The storm winds bloom flowers/ A smile as beautiful as a Bach Dang stake/ Cooling the heart with clear rain" (Awakening). Bui Minh Vu used the sea to measure people's loyalty to the country through the image of "a fingerprint on the heart" as when we roll up on the citizen identification card, from now on we are a citizen of Vietnam: "Let's put a fingerprint on the heart/ As said/ Any loyalty begins/ From the sea" (Fingerprint).

The sea has been stormy, many people remain forever in the vast ocean. But the sea is also tolerant like a mother's heart. The patriotic heart vibrates with "sand bells" reminding the Vietnamese people: Hoang Sa belongs to Vietnam: "At the bottom of Hoang Sa sea/ I hear the heart ringing from the sand bell" (Hoang Sa). There, schools of fish swim silently leaning against each other like human faces, forming a fossil border to affirm sovereignty: "Hundreds of fish leaning against each other/ Forming a border of faces/ People/ Fossilized" (Hoang Sa). Sixty-four soldiers who died on Gac Ma island in the past have fossilized their arrogant smiles, becoming sovereignty milestones: "Smiles of fragrant ripe fruit/ Proud green hardships/ At the bottom of Gac Ma/ Bright faces during the day/ Round snails at night/ Fossilized milestones" (Figurative)...

In the poetry collection “Buong neo”, Bui Minh Vu tried to continue to renew his poetry by thinking according to the “jump” of the quatrain, less using the “dance step” of gently moving from idea to idea of traditional poetry. “Buong neo” has anchored in the hearts of readers with poems with modern poetic thinking that smoothly combines traditional folk and soulful poetic forms, such as: “Night on Sinh Ton island, dreaming of white areca flowers/ Spreading a gentle fragrance/ Square banyan leaves swaying in the sea wind/ Like the areca spathe that mother fanned in the past” (White Areca Flowers); “Tra Khuc river/ Winding/ Tightly tied rope/ Poor hometown/ Hard work/ The goby/ Hiding in folk songs/ Waking up in the middle of the night/ Crawling in/ Demanding rice” (The goby). Bui Minh Vu, with his diverse and rich poetic soul, has succeeded in "dropping anchor" and planting landmarks of Vietnam's sea and island sovereignty: "Dawn creeps over the words/ The poem resolutely drops anchor/ Like a landmark standing straight" (Drop Anchor).

MAI BA AN

Source: https://baoquangngai.vn/van-hoa/van-hoc/202409/tac-gia-tac-pham-yeu-bien-dao-qua-tap-tho-buong-neo-94c13f0/