The overlapping Mountains are stretching spectacularly. Clouds and snow cover a small house on distant mountains

Le Thanh Binh, an eminent poet from Vietnam, the Land of Blue Dragon, shares his poems

Le Thanh Binh was born in 1955 in a military-intellectual class family of Vietnam. His family is part of the Le Canh lineage, which shares the same ancestors with the Le Mau, Le Ba, and Le Van lineages. The Le family is originally from Cam Due, Cam Xuyen, Ha Tinh. In 1526, the feudal state apprehended and relocated all four Le tribes to Trieu Phong, Quang Tri, which is a part of the Central region of Vietnam.

Le Thanh Binh is an Associate Professor, Ph.D., and an expert in Communication and Cultural Diplomacy. He has previously served as the Counselor at the Embassy of Vietnam in Norway, Director General, as well as the Head of the Faculty of International Communication and Cultural at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam. Currently, he actively participates in the leadership of the Vietnam – Denmark Friendship Association, the Vietnam – Japan Friendship Association, and the Traditional Vietnamese Martial Arts Federation. His bilingual poetry collections include: Harmony, Poetic Harmony, I Love This World, Climbing High to Play the Flute, Small Rainbow, Haiku and Free Verse Poetry, Three Clouds and a Mountain, and Green Birds Singing in the Blue Sky (scheduled for publication in 2024). Besides being an educator and a scientist with a sensitive poetic soul, he is also a dedicated diplomat, especially in the realm of cultural diplomacy.

Le Thanh Binh’s poetry not only expresses love for his homeland, family, friends, relatives, and landscapes, but incorporates Eastern poetic forms such as Vietnamese luc bat, Chinese quatrain, short poems, Haiku and near-Haiku from Japan, and even free verse to evoke connections with other countries like France, the United States, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Northern Europe, China, and Japan. Le Thanh Binh’s notable poems featuring foreign topics include: Mount Fuji, Spring Haiku, Passau, Ottawa, Oslo, Autumn in Paris, Land of Fairies, Dublin, and The Netherlands.

Go home in winter

The overlapping Mountains are stretching spectacularly

Clouds and snow cover a small house on distant mountains

Horseman crosses the vast white fields,

The golden fox ran past in front,

The horse neighed in surprise, dropping snowflakes from the glittering bushes.

***

Smelling lavender

The smell of lavender peaceful,

Aromatic as French girls,

I bathed in lavender,

I breathe in to full chest,

Full smell of you.

***

Poetic Inspiration  

Ah! The brown squirrel, now appears and now disappears on the uneven road

Eyes rolling, it hops up on the robust pine trees fast

It scratches off some dry barks

Its acrid scent I can smell

 Also, the scent of the snow, the perfume of a toting girl

 All of the elements rush on to paper in matter of seconds

That’s it.

A poem is born.

***

A song for the age of seventeen

Tallish blue mountains,

Smallish young moon,

You just turned seventeen,

Living by the mountainside,

Wearing hair down waiting for whom?

C’mon, you playing the flute,

Come by my side!

There’s a couple of cranes,

Under the moon lights they dance…

Everyone chants:

“Tallish blue mountains,

Smallish young moon…”

(Translated into English by Le Thanh Binh and Le Phan Loc)

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Read: Empty wine jar – Poetry from Vietnam