Huu Dat - a talented writer

Let's count how many people in our country are teachers and writers? And writers who are capable of writing in many genres."A wave of the fairy's hand is enough to sing ten songs", including novels, short stories, plays, memoirs, poems... and also in a large quantity (10 novels, 2 short story collections, 5 plays, 1 cheo play, 1 portrait memoir collection and now a thick collection of poems), and in every genre has he contributed like you? Plays and cheo are staged and performed, novels cause a stir in public opinion and are adapted into feature films... Perhaps the number of talented people like that, I think, is not much.

Up to now, Huu Dat has always given priority to writing prose. Now entering his "early 60s", after the joys and sorrows, experiences, traveling "all over the world", busy with many jobs, he has decided to publish his first book of poetry, once again the richness in genres has further proven his versatility.

The title of the poetry collection is "Traveler", perhaps Huu Dat considered himself a traveler (more than once he used the words "traveler", "tourist" and "far away", "foreign land"). When wandering around Europe and Asia to study, visit or teach in foreign lands, he always wrote poems to record his feelings, experiences, joys and sorrows...

The first poem of the collection is like his poetic manifesto:"Traveling to many places/ Still remembering the shadow of my homeland/ My heart follows the words/ Deep in the depths of my soul".

It is possible to know the addresses of the "four places" that "traveler" Huu Dat has visited, because they are all imprinted in each poem.

In Russia there is an article: "New Year's Eve in Moscow", "White Flowers"…; to France there is an article:"By the Citadel of Versailles", "Spring in a Foreign Land"; through Belgium there is:"Visit Waterloo Fortress"; stop in the Netherlands has:"Through Amsterdam"…; in Cambodia there is an article"Saryka Keo"; in China there are quite a few articles:"Dongchang Station", "Helou Wharf", "Thinking of Xiang River Wharf", "Passing Xiang River Wharf", "Remembering Cui Hao", "Remembering Li Bai", "Longmen City", "Forbidden City", "Summer Palace"...

And especially during the 6 months of teaching Vietnamese in Shanghai in 2010, Huu Dat wrote most of all with a sad, lonely mood:"Walking along the Huangpu River", "Visiting the Stone Dragon Gate", "Visiting the Shaolin Temple", "Walking on the Street

"Soldier", "Alone", "Sunday Sadness", "Night Away from Home", "Autumn Feeling", "Shanghai Rain", "Suddenly Awakened"… The saddest days are Sundays, when foreign students are off school, and the teacher is no longer busy with teaching, alone in the"Four cold rooms/ All day long no human sound/ Only

I'm alone around / Flapping wings / the sound of bats"(Sunday Sadness) then the nostalgia for homeland, wife and children "follows sleep". Anyone who has ever been abroad, to a place without relatives, without friends for a long time can understand the feelings of people living far away from home.

Wherever he went, he missed his motherland. In the middle of the beautiful city of Moscow, he still felt sad:"New Year's Eve, my heart suddenly feels empty/ Still green banh chung/ Still banh gio and banh tet/ But Tet is still not Tet/ Lacking the taste of homeland/ Spring still hasn't come."Coming across a peach blossom branch in Russia, he suddenly felt warm in his heart when he thought about it."Spring of our country is somewhere here"Listening to a Vietnamese song in a foreign land also makes me feel moved, as if my homeland is getting closer:Listening to your wet eyes through the song / Suddenly I see somewhere the shadow of my homelandComing to the Netherlands - a modern country with people "as gentle as the earth", he also thought of and loved his homeland:Sea water/ Higher than city houses/ But why doesn't it flood like my hometown?Coming to Shanghai - one of the most prosperous cities in Asia, he still can't stop missing Vietnam:"I'm living in the far North/ Why do I only see the land and sky of the South?"…

Huu Dat has a special talent for drawing character portraits with words. Previously, he was famous for "drawing" characters with prose through the memoir "Van Khoa Portraits", he drew each person with a very distinctive personality, very precise, full of love and humor, not less than the collection "Portraits and Dialogues" by Tran Dang Khoa which once caused a fever. In this collection of poems, Huu Dat created portraits of loved ones such as his mother, brother-in-law, teachers, friends... and each portrait moved the reader...

The image of each poet's mother appears with many different shapes, memories and recollections. Huu Dat is no exception in writing poems about his mother. Read the poem"My mother"Thanks to him, I understood why Huu Dat could sing Cai Luong with emotion at parties or when he needed to vividly illustrate lectures on the sub-genres of theater; I understood why he could compose Cai Luong operas and Cheo and dramas as well; and I also knew that the artistic gel of scientist Huu Dat was inherited from his beloved artist mother: …Missing grandma/ Mom left the artist life/ Returned to being a farmer/ (…) The stage is missing mother/ Friends lack love/ The audience becomes bored/ Without mother/ Who sings reformed opera/ (…) Half-life career unfinished/ Mother's love for her children/ The dream from that time/ Flies away with the vast full moon.

In the articleMeet old friendsThe author's pain transmitted to the reader. I suddenly felt sad when I came across the following verses:

"Just a few years ago you came to Russia/ Met me at the gate of Lomonosov School/ Your hair was black as ink/ Your youthful, carefree smile/ In the blink of an eye, several decades have passed/ The road has been like a "knife throw"/ and you have aged/ You no longer have the black hair/ like before/ Your smile/ has withered over the years/ You read fewer books each day/ I hear/ some sentences here and there/ Human life passes quickly/ Autumn remains the same forever/ The golden moon is still capricious/ Passing before you and me".

The author did not say whether this is a boyfriend or girlfriend, but I think this could be a girlfriend. Only girlfriends describe hair and smile! Whether a boyfriend has black or gray hair is not important, women with gray hair are the "problems". A 60-year-old man cannot be called old, a 60-year-old woman is really old. A 40-year-old woman can still call a 60-year-old man "anh" without feeling abnormal, but she cannot call a 60-year-old woman "chi", she must call her "co" to be correct (?). This friend, several decades ago, must have been a talented female student who studied abroad at Lomonoxov University, she was youthful with "ink-black hair", with an innocent "liberal" smile... But now she is a woman with gray hair, a withered smile, and dim eyes:"Read a little every day", deaf ears:"Listen to some sentences"… Oh, nothing can resist the eternal law of "birth, aging, sickness and death", "Human life is like a dove's shadow passing through the door". Huu Dat concluded the poem with the philosophyHuman life passes quickly/ Autumn remains the same forever/ The golden moon is still capricious/ Passing before you and me"… Reading this poem, I suddenly thought of the story of a queen who, when she was old and sick, refused to see the king or let him see her face, hoping that her youthful and beautiful image would remain in the king’s memory. And should people, when they are old, meet their old lovers again (?).

Some poets have written about their beloved sisters-in-law but writing about brothers-in-law is quite rare. Huu Dat's brother-in-law was once a soldier. He had a soldier's demeanor:"feet walk, mouth talk, hands work", is human"simple", my reason for living is to know"love"and"worship two words: live honorably".He was loved by his parents-in-law and his sisters-in-law considered him an example to follow, as someone who took care of their younger siblings in place of their parents. Even though he is no longer here, Huu Dat's feelings for his brother-in-law are truly admirable:When you were alive you were my brother-in-law/ When you died you became the Khuê star/ Our parents are no longer here/ Your shadow leads us away.The poem is simple but makes the reader feel the author's warm and family-like affection. A harmonious and disciplined family always produces people who are useful to society.

His poems dedicated to teachers, although the names of the dedicatees are abbreviated as "Respectfully dedicated to Ms. D.Th.H, Ms. LHS, Ms. H.Th.CH; Respectfully dedicated to Mr. HTPh, Mr. NXL... but we can easily guess (even if he may not have indicated by the abbreviated names). Because those are very famous teachers who have been "drawn" by Huu Dat very accurately, readers see in those portraits a beautiful personality, dedicating their whole life to the student classes, to the research career of the Social Sciences & Humanities Sector of Vietnam. But the private lives of some teachers are sometimes disadvantaged, hard, difficult and bumpy... Some teachers are still lonely, still "alone" in their old age, some teachers no longer have a home to live in when they are eighty years old, some teachers have worked all their lives but have not been awarded an academic title by the State (but the academic titles that students and people confer are also very honorable and noble!). Huu Dat himself is a teacher who always remembers To the teachers who taught him, "when you eat the fruit, remember the one who planted the tree", he is the embodiment of a beautiful personality, with morality, and respect for the past and present.

Several teachers were mentioned in prose in the volume:Literature portraitare now mentioned again in this collection of poems. That proves that Huu Dat loves, respects and has special affection for the teachers who have created deep impressions in his life as a student and teacher.

In the articleHave a belief(Respectfully dedicated to Master HTPh), the portrait and demeanor of the Master appeared clearly like a flesh-and-blood person and I immediately recognized that he was the Professor, Doctor, People's Teacher - my beloved Teacher:

Still the same long hair as in youth/ Still the same boundless smile as in youth/ Eighty years old, still riding a motorbike to class/ Two or three times a week/ Hands dancing in circles like an artist/ Voice high and low like the sound of a kite flute/ Feet walking gracefully following the silhouette of a crane/ Shadows flying over the lesson plan in each section…

It can be said that the "portrait" poetry genre and especially "portraits of teachers" are the "specialty" of Huu Dat's poetry.

Huu Dat has shown the spirit of "self-criticism", "social warning" or "looking straight at the truth" of a patriotic citizen through a number of articles in the section.Writer's voiceof the Literature and Arts newspaper. In this collection of poems, that spirit is strongly promoted in poems about current events:"Father's words", "Where is the village", "Love for our country", etc.

How painful to read the following sentences:

After the reform, my hometown was very poor/ The fields and gardens did not cooperate with each other/ The labor exchange group had two crops each season/ When the harvest came, there was only a little sweet potato.(My mother).

With postWhere is the village?, he was painfully worried that "village culture" had been lost in the "market economy" era, gradually losing the space of the countryside."tiled roof", "well"; gradually losing pieces of life"poor but clean", they work hard but have moments of leisure"standing in the cool breeze at the temple gate"Now, farmers have competed to sell their land to get money to build houses, shop, indulge in debauchery, gamble, and then lose their land, their vegetable and rice growing jobs, and they have become penniless people, having to wander far and wide to make a living:

… Every family shows off the money from selling land/ Compensation money, profit money, sharing/ Then happily shopping, building/ Wherever we go, we see villas and mansions/ New habits of spending lavishly/ With so much money, who still wants to grow vegetables/ (…) Generations of juniors love urban life/ Love to gamble and gamble/ Restaurants are everywhere at the beginning of the street and the end of the village/ Cicadas' shadows hover under the lights/ The old village of yesteryear is no longer there/ Many families lose their jobs and have to leave home/ The night is deep in the open sky and sleep on the ground/ Yesterday's millionaires are now streetwalkers…

In the articleLove your country, he could not hold back his sorrow when people not only suffered from the consequences of war, storms, floods, fires, traffic accidents, rising inflation... but they were also wronged and miserable because of corruption, ineffective projects... But with the kind nature of a true artist, never screaming or causing trouble..., he still had faith, so even though"heart numb/ still singing love song"…

His poems are good because of their sincere feelings and the seriousness of a teacher, not because of their arbitrary innovation in form. He is not the type of poet who follows the surrealist, postmodernist, or symbolist art schools. Therefore, his innovative approach to form in many poems is still based on traditional poetic structure. Even if there are long or short line breaks, they are still verses in the rhyming poetry genre. For example:

How many months have passed?

in the momentbreast

Early morning rain

stillThis

Look at the cold stone

pig intestinesuck

How much I miss my homelandday

(Versailles)

Call me

can't see youwhere

just listen

cramp

sadnesspainfulsilently

(Wild rain)…

His poems use a lot of Sino-Vietnamese words liketraveler,expatriate,memory, lower world, wandering, spiritual, earthly world, homeland, wandering children and women, universe, family background, ancient temple, Longmen city, Forbidden City, Hanoi…should have solemn, antique colors suitable for nostalgic, contemplative content…

Although there are a few funny poems like "Old Friends", the main tone of the entire collection is deep, sad, and thoughtful...

That thinking is expressed in doubt, questioning, anxiety, and contemplation in verses such as:Why are great men so humble? / A thousand-year career is only like this?(Visit Waterloo Fortress),The thousand-year-old citadel collapsed/ The forty-thousand-year-old poem still brings sorrow?(Reflection),People all over the world/ Why do we see hardships in human life everywhere?(Walking on Quang Linh street),I'm alone, I'm alone/ I'm nothing in the vast sky(Alone),What will you think when you sit on a pile of silver/ Years pass and your parents are no longer here?(Father's words),The string of fate between two people has broken/ Will the pain ever be filled?(Bitter cabbage)…

In this collection "Travel", Huu Dat is very conscious of innovation in form through a number of poems in the shape of a cup, a bow, a water tower, a stacked tower, a diamond-shaped stacked tower, an arrow... These are also experiments of many poets, both old and new. Previously, Tran Huan Chuong experimented with triangular poetry in the poemDarkSince 1936, Nguyen Vy experimented with rhombus and zigzag poetry, along with many poems in novel forms such asShowers, Sunset, Temple Bells…But perhaps it was only with Huu Dat that formal poetry was developed to its peak and it seems that behind each creative form, each poem still contains some profound content, a unique message of poetry.

Huu Dat specializes in writing prose, but he has also had remarkable successes with poetry. The language of dialogue in his novels is as sharp and powerful as the language in his poems is so supple and soft…

The beauty of his poems is not in trying to appear different in form but in the vibration of the heart. When Huu Dat is moved, he will make the reader moved. When Huu Dat trembles, he will make the reader tremble. When his poems touch the reader's memories, nostalgia, contemplation, and worries, then he is successful. I like poems likeLagerstroemia flowers, Old town, Remembering old school, Cool breeze, Full moon night in the suburbsvery romantic with the sentences"On the full moon night, I want to love/ The moon, the wind/ And all the trivial things..

Perhaps because he was influenced by and loved some poets of the New Poetry and Revolutionary Poetry periods, sometimes in the rhythm of his poems there is a trace of the rhythm of his predecessors. For example:My soul is like eucalyptus flowers/ Strong in fragrance but passionate and intense(…) keeps reminding me of the sentence:My soul is like the clover flower/ One windy afternoon, clinging to your shirt(Nguyen Binh) or:You - wild flower petals/ on the cliff/ four seasons/ forever drinking the night dewkeeps reminding me of the even-odd rhythm in:I will be the flower on the mountain top / The four seasons forever fragrant flower petals(Vu Cao)… That is something we also see in many other poets when they compose in the same genre.

His poems, the later ones written, are even better…

I think you deserve the title."Talented teacher"or "a multi-talented Associate Professor and Doctor"… I say that, even the most difficult person must agree with me!