Buzz
1. To My Mother
Is my mother only mine?
No, she's everyone's, that's the truth
She may not have given birth or nurtured
But my gratitude towards her is endless
In the past, Mother was also rosy
By my side, she worried through every pain
Now her hair has turned pale
Leaving her hair on my head black
Where are the sunny slopes she used to climb
Far-off markets, the burden on Mother's back several times
Lovingly, she loved every step
Like Mother's footprints, deeply engraved
Mother's lullabies from long ago
Old tales she mixed into my poetry:
Grapefruit flowers, lemon blossoms
Quan Họ songs, village communal house...
Please don't mimic poetic phrases
Go back home, be truthful to love each other
Mother doesn't abandon her children
Loving you, loving me, she's the mother of our home
I'll continue singing
Lulling you after every weary day
Singing our love
Amidst an endless blue sky
Amidst a thousand flowers, mountains, rivers
Amidst the vast, endless love for Mother
Nurtured from our days of yore
Mother gave birth to me for you today.
2. Mother's Voice
“… Like raindrops falling from the sky,
Some on the rooftop, some in puddles lie.”
Mother's lullaby, a bitter-sweet melody
In weary eyes, nights are deep and solemn
Beside the dim light, warmth is insufficient
Thin hands tirelessly weave the rough fabric
Day after day, weaving the coarse cloth
Exhausted, unable to find the essence of life
Raindrops fall on muddy puddles
A human life, closing eyes, tears still flow…
My childhood lost amidst life's maze
Like a lonely bird losing its nest
Who knows that orphan girl then
Now grown up – a literary girl
Filled with joy, I weave life's tapestry
Soft arms beneath shimmering lanterns
Not the sad lullaby by the cold frame
Of my mother's past. I sing a song
Saying: “My life is not like falling raindrops”
But the sunlight of spring dreams
Today I pause by the country road of years past
After the green bamboo hedge, echoes of 'oh dear'…
Whose mother's voice once comforted by the cradle
Or is this the sound of overflowing joy
Oh mother, from within the earth's embrace
Do you hear life's song of love?
3. My Love for Mom
– My love for mom equals the sky
So vast, it never ends
– Then how does a child know
Where the sky exists
It's vast yet so high
Mom hopes, when will you come!
– My love for mom equals Hanoi
To remember mom, I seek
From this street to that street
I will find you, mom
– But Hanoi is too vast
Streets like spider webs
These streets, those streets
Finding mom, how is that possible!
– My love for mom equals school
All day I am there
When I study, when I play
There is always mom with me
– But in the evening, I return home to sleep
Then I am far from school
While mom stays alone
She misses me a lot
Mom's nature is to remember
Always wanting to be with me
If there's something closer
My love for mom equals that
– Oh mom, there's a cricket
Always in my matchbox here
Open it and I see
My love for mom equals this cricket.
4. To Mom
This spring, will you return, mom?
I light a fragrant incense
The riverbank is wet
Bamboo leaves rustle along the village road
The Nhuệ River ferries across
Purple wildflowers line the alley
White storks soar
As mom's lullabies fly back
The soothing words in the late night
I still remember, mom's songs have shores to overcome
One side here, one side there, looking out for each other
North and South, hands cut, hearts ache
The Gianh River dense with warning signs
The paths of Huế, green hills, blue waters
Wishing to enter but fearing to damage Tam Giang
I've grown up
The land has been divided for generations
Generations of battlefields
In mom's songs
How many wives have bid farewell to husbands
'My dear, take the letter parcel
Take the sword on your shoulder
Go, my dear...'
White clouds return to the salty Southern sea
A hundred eggs of Âu Cơ
When will they reunite?
Oh mom, purple wildflowers fill the alley
This spring, the country is vibrant
The country just passed a long battle
Miles of roads, stages of fire
We've overcome many obstacles
High passes and large waterfalls along the Trường Sơn range
Through Hồ's valley, through breaking Tam Giang
I've reached the tip of Cà Mau, waves crashing
Those lands in childhood dreams
The joyful lights of a thousand homes
People together, shores connected
The more I love mom, the more I love the old songs
The sky has rid itself of demons
Birds flock, branches no longer stray from trees
The little skinny daughter
The poor child of mom
Like a small stream merging into the river
Like a sail reaching the distant shore
The rain no longer feels cold, the lullabies
Silk added to the cocoon, new songs to life
Red rice flowers by the river, villages celebrate
Thinking mom has returned this early spring
Mom walks with me among the crowds
Crimson dress, betel nut-scented lips.
5. The Lullaby on Earth
Buzzing sounds of bee swarms
Diligence is the hum of silkmoths spinning
Mother is still busy with her lullaby
While flowers blush and ponds gleam green
Tree seeds are busy sprouting
You spin alone out there
Sleep, my child, sleep
Oh, sleep is coming with you
From within the fresh grass leaves
Rising above the earth, yet mud still clings to your feet
From the freshly built house
Smelling lime in the deep sleep
Sleeping through streams and hills
Through the earth's embrace, through the lullabies, through...
Here flows milk white as ivory
Though with grit, though far from the tunnel's mouth
Mud still stains your feet
Though the water source is clear, the lullabies remain
Oh, where does the fire from yesteryears
That mother nurtured underground go now?
Gleaming brightly above
Yesterday's fire now in the flag's colors
Living soil with daytime
People living with trees they plant
Still caring for the cricket under the tunnel
Through years of bombs living with lullabies
Dispelled are the clouds of mist
The full moon in cool autumn night
The cradle no longer stuck in the tunnel
Diapers white, sky blue
“Three months creeping, seven months sitting”
A long path through vast earth
Wind rising from the forests
Fragrant scents within flower hearts
Home in every direction
Like a train with stations along the way
Through past pains
Perhaps the song still remains
Oh, sleep… Oh, child...
6. Essence Unveiled
Younger brother often inquires
Not sharing stories like his elder
(Though not born, mom you're still called)
– Mom, who gives birth to fish?
Who creates ice cream?
At night why is it black?
By day why is it white?…
– Daytime crafted by sunlight
Green made by trees
Chili made fiery
Noise births electric trains
Wind within a seashell
Lean in and listen…
But what about ice cream?
It's made by chilly winters
Flowers crafted by festivals
Festivals brew fragrances
You're made by love
From dad and from mom
From grandma and from grandpa
And from mom too – did you know?
You're made from everything!
7. Mother's Lullaby
Where does the lullaby hide?
Amidst the vastness of heaven and earth
When I was just born
The lullaby sang by mother
As I lay warmly
The lullaby is a blanket
In peaceful slumber
The lullaby turns into dreams
As I wake up
The lullaby goes out to play
The lullaby goes to the potato field
To the edge of the pond with water spinach
And when I go to school
The lullaby is at the school gate
The lullaby becomes blades of grass
Welcoming my footsteps
Tomorrow when I grow up
In the scorching sun on distant roads
The lullaby is a cool shade
As I climb the deep mountains
The lullaby also climbs rugged paths
When I reach the vast ocean
The lullaby becomes boundless.
8. Bond Between Mother and Child
- Mommy, see that flower there?
Whose is it, mommy?
The green color on the door
And that one too, whose are they?
– They're yours, my dear
All yours, every bit
The green on the door
The last flower in the garden
The sun's face in the evening
The morning bird's song
The quiet face of the pond
With a fish swimming
The flowing river
A new boat just docked…
They're all yours
You're mine too
You hug me, you kiss me:
– Why do I have so much?
Yes, you have a lot
But I have more
Because everything is yours
And you are mine.
9. Mother's Heart
The moon still high up above
The rooster yet to crow at dawn
The kitchen fire already glowing
Old mom is up, boiling water
For her soldier sons far away
To warm their bellies on distant roads
They worry that mom hasn't risen
So they greet her from yesterday
A country lad from the South
All day he's used to calling: “Mom… mom”
Seeing mom eat the gentle rice
He says: our hometown has plenty of fish
When will the North and South unite?
When they do, I'll bring some for mom
And you - from our Hue hometown
When will you invite mom to visit?
To see the Perfume River and ancient citadel
I'll take mom everywhere
Knowing mom's busy with the cooperative
We help with household chores
We burnt the rice husk last night
Is it still smoldering now?
After a decade of resistance
They're still like the olden days
Oh, my soldier sons
How likable their nature!
Mom bundles up a new stack of straw
The water pot gently sings
Suddenly, mom's heart stirs
They haven't left, why miss them so!
Pour fresh tea into the pot
Let it steep in the warmth
Mom hurries out to the field
Picking some young corn cobs
Boiling a pot of corn just in time
The sky's not fully bright yet
They must still be sound asleep
Wake up, eat, then off they go
Mom tiptoes back into the house
Oh… why can't I hear them breathe
The warm water on the table still hot
The green lamp seeds still glowing
Mom quickly adjusts the lamp's wick
Checking the place where they sleep
The mat's neatly folded up
They're gone… they've gone now!
Oh, that child from Hue
His voice sounds so soft
Oh, that child from Saigon
All day used to calling: “Mom… mom”
When will the North and South unite?
He'll bring back some fish for mom
When will the North and South unite?
So mom can visit our Hue hometown.
10. Tale of Humankind
The sky was the first to exist
Only inhabited by children
On the bare earth
No trees or grass
The sun was not yet present
Only darkness prevailed
The air was all black
No other colors yet
***
Children's eyes are bright
But they see nothing yet!
The sun rises high
So children can see clearly
Green begins with grass
Green begins with trees
Trees as tall as fingers
Grass as thin as hair
Flowers made from petals
Red gives birth to flowers
Birds began to sing
So children hear their chirping
Chirping as clear as water
Chirping as high as clouds
The innocent breezes
Carry sounds far and wide
If children want to bathe
Rivers begin to form
Rivers stretching to the vast sea
The ocean existed from then
The ocean invites thought
The ocean births fish and shrimp
The ocean births sails
So children can journey afar
Clouds provide shade
The sun hides behind clouds
As children take their first steps
The path existed from that day
But children still need
Love and lullabies
So mothers give birth
To carry and nurture
Moms bring back songs
From the fields and hills
From fragrant flowers
From the white egret
From the pungent ginger
From the still-healing scar
From the source of rain
From the empty riverbed...
Knowing children thirst
For stories old and new
Unknowing of their origins
And there, grandma comes
Telling endless tales
About frogs and fairies
About Tam and her kindness
About Ly Thong and his mischief...
Grandma's hair turns gray
But her eyes remain joyful
She tells stories for a lifetime
And it's never enough
Wanting children to understand
So dads come along
To teach them to be good
To teach them to think
The ocean's vast
The road's long
The mountains green and distant
The earth's round...
Writing came before
Then came chairs and tables
Then came classrooms and schools
And thus came the teachers...
The blackboard replaces the mat
Chalk comes from rocks
The teacher writes in big letters
“The Tale of Humankind” first.
