Heartfelt poetry amidst everyday life

The poetry collection "Offering Life, Offering My Whole Heart of Love" (Vietnam Writers Association Publishing House, 2024) is the result of years of quiet but deeply loving and emotional life of poet Hong Phuc (real name Dang Vinh Phuc , born in 1950, currently residing in Tay Binh commune, Tay Son district; member of the Literature Branch, Binh Dinh Association of Literature and Arts).

The poetry collection comprises 113 poems, divided into three parts: An Endless Source of Poetic Inspiration, writing about romantic love ; Abundant Love for Homeland, dedicated to the homeland and country ; and Deep Affection, overflowing with emotion for family, friends, and everyday interactions. Throughout the poems, readers easily perceive a simple, heartfelt tone; imbued with folk influences yet subtly romantic. He employs various poetic forms: six-eight meter, seven-word verse, free verse, and even prose poems, all like intimate conversations, whispers to life, to people, to his homeland, and to himself.

“ Offering Life, Offering My Whole Heart of Love ” is Hong Phuc 's second poetry collection , following “ Love Songs ” (2010) . Photo : DUY KHANG

In the realm of love poetry, where emotions flow freely between longing and yearning, poet Hong Phuc has gentle yet poignant verses: "Looking at the sky, looking at the earth / autumn colors / old love words are purple / letters sent to the village / golden silk / drying under the countryside sun / who can I find / to break the spell you cast?!" (Love Spell). Or in the poem "Round of Love ," he carries the silent torment of "polishing" a persistent, patient love: "My jade is still not green / sweat soaks the mountains and forests / will your soul ever tilt like a tidal wave / like a tear of love suddenly blossoming into a flower!"

Love in Hong Phuc's poetry is sometimes intertwined with the river of his homeland, with a land of cherished memories. There, his hometown is filled with nostalgia. The fields and the river are not only lyrical spaces, but also symbols of faithful love, traditional beauty, and unceasing longing.

In his nostalgic realm, everyday simplicity, memories of friends, and the flow of time are present in his poetry with profound contemplation and reflection. At times, the sense of homeland and the affection of friends emerge through a harmonious interweaving of emotions: "Bamboo groves, sugarcane fields, the river / Embracing homeland and the lullaby of a mother's heart / Old friends toast to each other / Drinking in love, drinking to the autumn moon's reflection ." (Confessions of a Veteran).

Poet Hong Phuc does not seek technical innovations or formal deviations, but chooses a simple path: dedicating himself to life with all the love he possesses. This is also the overarching message in this poetry collection, the culmination of a quiet yet passionate journey with poetry, with love, with his homeland, and with everything he cherishes in life.

DUY KHANG

Source: https://baobinhdinh.vn/viewer.aspx?macm=18&macmp=18&mabb=355106