Please let a red branch remain forever in my heart.

Ms. Tran Thi Kim Ngan is a history teacher who dedicated her entire life to teaching. In her final years before retirement, she held a Master's degree in History and served as Deputy Head of the Department of General Education at the Lam Dong Provincial Department of Education and Training. This history teacher, deeply committed to education and possessing a poetic soul, recently published a collection of poems titled "We Sit Gathering Old Memories" (Literature Publishing House, 2024).

After reading the poetry collection "We Gather Old Memories" by Tran Thi Kim Ngan, we feel as if we are transported into her world of emotions. Nostalgia for a time not yet gone, regret for the cruel passage of time that once brought fleeting dreams, reflections on personal and worldly concerns, profound loneliness yet overflowing with hope… these are the sentiments expressed through nearly fifty poems included in the collection.

Aware that time flies by like a fleeting shadow, while youth is like a beautiful and hopeful spring, a sense of regret pervades many poems with a fragile and sensitive heart: "The days rush by quickly / The loving heart cannot keep pace with the rhythm / The hurried March rushes ahead" (Self-Reflection); "Spring also passes very quickly / The peach blossoms are no longer blooming / The withered rose petals fall gently on the old path / Time flows calmly / Season after season moves towards the distant horizon" (March); or "Passing through the lavender seasons / Paradise is dyed a deep purple / The rhythm of time, the mellow drops of coffee / Falling down in the hurried afternoon as the years pass" (Remembering Lavender).

Aware of the laws of time, loving and believing in life, the poet lived fully with the various emotional nuances, gathering love and joy for life: "But at this moment we are still completely immersed / The happiness of each day is real / I cherish my love like honey / Sending sweetness to you with love" (Belief in Roses); "There is a joy / Fragile around here / Lingering on lips a smile of hope / A day around the bustling streets" (Fragile). The poet overcame sadness to fully experience the joy of life: "Dropping a drop of sadness into the sea at dawn / Crying and laughing endlessly amidst intoxicating love / My heart secretly sings a very true song / Sending the morning memories that surround me" (Sea at Dawn).

But time remains the same, relentlessly and cruelly slipping away. No matter how optimistic and joyful one may be, "age chases away youth," and innocent dreams gradually fade, no matter how much one tries to hold on: "Suddenly startled, I return to fifty years old / Gathering sorrow and joy to fill a thousand broken pieces / Day follows night, then love follows longing / Waves follow shore, then waves return to the distant sea" (Morning Sea); "Wrapping the sunsets in the afternoon sun / Suddenly realizing I am no longer young / No vows from the old season / Only a longing pouring towards winter" (Changing Seasons).

As if it were a law of nature, the poet seems to have recognized this law, so that despite regrets, she still embraces the cyclical movement of heaven and earth. Tran Thi Kim Ngan's poetry includes many poems about the emotions of March, about the cool breezes of October, and many poems about winter. Emotions surge as time passes; for her, it seems she wants to experience the myriad colors of time—summer, autumn, and winter—rather than constantly praising spring: "The years have thickly covered my hair / March comes and goes, tearing off the calendar page / Never breaking a promise, yet still full of longing" (March); "Do you know, my dear, that March has arrived? / My lips keep singing the old love song / Keeping within each other enough passion / Releasing it into the wondrous afternoon of March" (Old Love Song). And this is her October: "October scatters down the road / Let me pick up all the lingering worries of a lifetime / Raindrops wet even the smile / Hands intertwined to warm the October breeze" (October Breeze). And winter in Tran Thi Kim Ngan's poetry is: "I hold winter in my hands / The breeze wraps around my tangled hair / The days of youthful recklessness have passed / Still vast and boundless with each approaching winter" (Winter Love Song); or: "For a day to awaken from the wild illusions / Gathering the burnt leaves of clumsy afternoons / Lighting a warm fire to warm the freezing winter days / Life slowly flows in the golden sunlight" (Winter Self-Reflection); " Hanoi this season lacks passing rains / Even the thin breeze carries the color of fire / Memories of winter burning by the lake's rippling water / Drifting endlessly, gently cool to the bottom of the heart" (Falling Memories).

Tran Thi Kim Ngan's poetry is rich in contemplation, tinged with melancholy, with memories that linger through time, yet are deeply rooted in her recollections. She uses the rain to express her feelings: "Let it fall on the threshold of many white flowers / Things are different from before, though my heart is heavy / I gather my joys and sorrows deep within my heart / Season after season, the years still wander" (Love Poem on a Rainy Day). Often, she confronts profound sadness: "The endless night flows like a sigh / Dreams don't return, embracing bewilderment / What am I searching for amidst countless burdens? / My hands turn in every direction, yet nothing remains / I dwell in the vastness of sorrow and joy" (Sound of the Night). And what sadness is greater than separation, even knowing that the cycle of creation is unavoidable: "Then we too will become ruins / Of someone else or of this world itself / Time will paint its own form / On moss and earth covered with ashes" (Ruins). "Neither joy nor sorrow, nor infatuation/ Life is precarious, we part ways hastily/ Even if tomorrow we no longer walk the same path/ Every fork in the road leaves a bitter taste on our lips" (Sunset Sun).

Tran Thi Kim Ngan writes spontaneously whenever inspiration strikes. She never thought she would become a poet, but her poems have many unusual and novel themes, a concise and tight structure, and many beautiful words and phrases that resonate with the reader's emotions and memory.

Nature revolves, the earth and sky, plants and trees are constantly changing, and human hearts also change with time. How can one not feel sadness, especially for someone with a poetic heart, sensitive to life's inherent fragility? But Tran Thi Kim Ngan's poetry is not only filled with melancholy but also with faith, love, and hope. Her compassionate heart has infused her verses with the joy of living, the yearning for life, and sown faith and hope for the world: "Holding in my hands the gains and losses of the past / A gentle smile, the sound of birds chirping on the azure sea / Still singing love songs without regret" (Seasonal Dawn); or: "Day follows day, night follows dawn / We connect our lives with love as before / The sun is still golden, the rain still falls on the leaves / Connecting sorrow and joy, we live a full life" (Seasonal Transition); and more: "Spring is coming, do you know, my dear? / So much longing exchanged during the cold winter days / Flowers bloom along the familiar and strange paths / Please let a red branch remain forever in my heart" (Color of Remembrance).

Source: http://baolamdong.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202411/xin-mot-nhanh-do-mai-o-trong-tim-fcd30df/