Reading the poetry collection "MEMORY" by Nguyen Van Dung
From 1992 to 2024, poet Nguyen Van Dung published 14 literary works including 2 epic poems, 11 poetry collections, and 1 critical essay collection. So in less than 2 years, he published a fairly full book of hundreds of pages. Not to mention the poems published with other authors, poems published in Van Nghe Newspaper, Tien Phong Newspaper, Tho Magazine, Cua Viet Magazine, Song Huong Magazine, Nhat Le Magazine and Quang Tri Newspaper, Ha Tinh Newspaper, Binh Dinh Newspaper... showing his admirable creativity. As the Chairman of the Quang Tri Province Literature and Arts Association, he has so much work to do, but when does he have time for his "muse"?
Poet Nguyen Van Dung presents a book to the author of the article - Photo: TN
Nguyen Van Dung's 13th collection of poems, titled "Mien nho" published by Thuan Hoa Publishing House in June 2023, is 254 pages long and includes 120 poems. The poems deal with many topics: love, the sea, the river, the four seasons, the rain, the wind, the moon, the country market, the homeland, the feelings of the concrete and the abstract; the visible and the invisible. His poems contain a deep sadness, entangled with an endless longing, filled with deep contemplation, but ultimately are nostalgia and love for the places where the poet has lived, is living and has set foot.
The baggage of each person in general and poet Nguyen Van Dung in particular is heavy with the years. From childhood living in the loving arms of parents to adulthood, we have met countless people, our feet have passed through countless different regions so that when we are old, our hearts are filled with nostalgia, emotions overflow with memories that are still fresh, we can call those places the land of nostalgia.
Born and raised in Vinh Giang commune, very close to Cua Tung beach. Every time poet Nguyen Van Dung had the opportunity to visit his hometown, he could freely dive under the purple sunset, regretting the lingering drops of sunlight falling at the end of the day, he felt so much love for his hometown. In Dong Ha town, the poet sobbed and sent a message: "Has anyone returned to Cua Tung?/Please send back your love and longing/When we part, my heart still owes/To the blue sky and the blue sea with huge waves" (Cua Tung Purple Afternoon). Quy Nhon is a provincial city of Binh Dinh province. Once, a "good wind" brought the poet to Quy Nhon beach, he was overwhelmed by the vast white sand, feeling so small in front of the immense sea. When parting, the poet longs for the “single moon” hidden at the bottom of his suitcase and lets his heart throb: “Quy Nhon, tomorrow I leave/I long for something impossible/…You and Quy Nhon are warm and affectionate/Coming and going, who knows when we will meet again” (You and Quy Nhon). The poet has a romantic soul, that’s for sure. On a trip, the author visited the thousand-year-old capital of Hanoi. He was absorbed in finding the dreamy student years he had lost in the lecture hall, the late autumn weather was still chilly, the old mossy streets of the past now had new clothes. Although he was “no longer young”, he was still stunned by the graceful beauty of the Hanoi girl walking by Hoan Kiem Lake, the poet exclaimed: “You are so beautiful, I can’t walk/There is something that makes my heart flutter!” . And when he got over the shock, that enchanting beauty kept him in the capital longer than he had planned: “You are so beautiful, I hesitated to walk/ Hanoi lingered, not wanting to see me off” (A Glimpse of Autumn in Hanoi). Meanwhile, at West Lake, the poet was captivated by the playful, cheerful beauty of the young girl in her early twenties: “Her ponytail swayed/Her red heels danced gracefully in her figure”. Just like that, the poet: “Let his heart sing for hours without stopping”. In a moment of carelessness, the poet sobbed “A moment of West Lake’s melancholy/ Saying goodbye to that day, my heart fluttered with emotion” (West Lake’s melancholy).
With love and longing for the near and far, the lands he has visited have all been marked with poetry. Ho Chi Minh City, civilized, modern, and affectionate, has struggled to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic for a long time, and the whole country looks to it, including Quang Tri.
Everyone is eager to pray for the "Pearl of the Far East" to return to normal soon, and the poet is no exception: "Saigon and I are so far away/Why do I often dream of Saigon/Sleeping late at night, I mumble/I call Saigon, my pillow drenched in tears/Missing you, struggling during the COVID season/Only I know the hardships/Why do I often dream of Saigon" (Why do I often dream of Saigon). Hue was once the capital under the Tay Son and Nguyen dynasties, possessing a romantic, contemplative beauty, creating a unique identity that is very Hue.
The pouring rains and the “mai nhi mai day” folk songs are also unforgettable “specialties” for tourists and Hue people living far away from home. Famous landmarks: Hue Citadel, Thien Mu Pagoda, Tu Duc Tomb, Dong Ba Market, Truong Tien Bridge, Ngo Mon Gate... are recognized by UNESCO as world cultural heritages.
The poet entered Hue on a rainy afternoon covering Ngu Binh mountain, thousands of pine trees were silent and thoughtful, Truong Tien bridge was still bustling with people, the land of poetry hummed in the wind: "Oh Hue, so many wishes/ The Forbidden City has been waiting every hour/ I passed by Ben Ngu by chance/ It seemed like someone was singing a gentle poem" (With Hue).
Nguyen Van Dung's poetic voice is not dramatic, not philosophical, not puzzling to the reader. His poetry is gentle and simple like the rice grains and potatoes of his homeland. Many poets write about distant lands in the vast world, to prove that they are global citizens.
Poet Nguyen Van Dung mostly exploited the poetic ideas within the province of Quang Tri, but reading them, he felt strangely close and warm. Every time he returned to visit his hometown Ben Hai River, one side Gio Linh district, the other Vinh Linh district, he felt a pang of pain when remembering a time of division between the North and the South. There he left behind an unfinished love: “Your eyes are black, your lips are pink/ Leaving me confused more than once/Staying up all night with the scent of the fields and the wind/My heart is troubled by a private feeling/Does anyone know that the moon on the sea is crescent/Is the moon waning or is my love waning? (Revisiting Ben Hai River).
The poet stood on Chau Thi bridge over Sa Lung river, Vinh Linh district, in the late afternoon. The wind from the river blew cool. Water hyacinth drifted along the waves. Smoke from the kitchen in the riverside hamlet spread gently behind the bamboo bushes. The friendly greetings of acquaintances came back and forth on the bridge.
In that still space, hearing the sound of a mother lulling her child to sleep made him feel sad: "The moon has been waning and then full for many seasons/Do you still miss the distant person/I am like a lost child/I am absent-mindedly listening to the song and feeling sorry for the love/A sunny and windy sky in Vinh Linh/Crossing Chau Thi bridge, waiting for someone alone? (Crossing Chau Thi bridge).
Hieu River flows through Cam Lo district and Dong Ha city and then flows into Cua Viet sea, praised by many poets, including poet Nguyen Van Dung. With the poetic imagery, the river weaves full of sunlight, the afternoon is as real as a dream, extremely charming, the wind blows a musical note that makes the poet more dreamy: "Because your name is bright in the golden afternoon/ The street is old but you are always new/ The sky of Hieu Giang is filled with confusing clouds/ Because of Hieu Giang, I stay with the afternoon" (Hieu Giang Afternoon). "When we are here, it is the place where the land lives/ When we leave, the land suddenly becomes the soul" (Che Lan Vien), the verse is full of philosophy of life.
We come to live in a new land and remember the old land that has become a part of our soul, flesh and blood with so many happy and sad memories. But poet Nguyen Van Dung, who lives in Dong Ha city, misses Dong Ha city because he loves Dong Ha so much. He loves the cold moon, loves the sun and wind, loves the painful mistakes that rub salt into his wounds, the carefree foolishness of a reckless time.
He compared Dong Ha to a poem with “both even and odd rhymes”, to a song with “both happy and sad words”, his heart was “full of mixed feelings” for the young city south of the historic Hien Luong bridge: “Love is too passionate/Cannot be separated/Want to live a real life for a second/With Dong Ha tonight” (Dong Ha Impressions).
There are many more attractive poems: Town and I, Night at the Sea, Late Afternoon of the Year, Stranger, When the Poet Loves, Waiting for the Train, Why Won't I Get Married, Country Market, I Still Owe You, The Street Is Deserted, Unsent Love Poems... The motivation for poet Nguyen Van Dung to compose poems was because "The Character of Love" urged him to write: "I passed by the slope of life/ Love you more passionately than when I was young" (Full of feelings).
Reading the poetry collection: "Memories" makes us love life more, love our homeland, love the happy and sad memories, love the familiar faces, love the regions we have been to even though all of them are only in our memories.
Nguyen Xuan Sang
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