Hoang Cam Thach
Currently living in Vinh City, Nghe An province of Vietnan, Hoang Cam Thach is a former Lecturer at Nghe An Pedagogical College. She is member of Association of Literature and Art of Vietnamese Ethnic Minorities and member of Arts and Literature Association of Nghe An. She has published 13 individually printed poetry collections and many selected and co-published poems in magazines, and on Central and local radio. Hoang is winner of 21 awards.
When my mother is a teacher
I am proud that mother is a teacher
Knowing to share in both happy and sad times
Lessons in school that I don’t understand
As the night falling, mother shares the source
Mother incubates seeds of the soul
Raising wings to fly away with dreams
There were days that lessons did not learn by heart
Mother stayed up all long night
My smile goes along the whole lifetime
Let me understand the life love
Let me understand the high and wide sky
And the sea is extremely deep
Mother full of sea, love and tolerance
Covering me the long stormy nights
Teaching me how to love from grass
I am proud to have mother as the teacher…
***
The girls of Truong Bon
Long time ago, in the middle of Truong Bon
The story of the girls
Gone into legend
Living forever with the country
This afternoon, I pass by Truong Bon
Hearing the murmur in the wind
Someone whispers under the grass
Singing the song to open the way
I quickly lit the incense
The flower placed on the graves
The mirror was still there
Why haven’t you come back yet?
Like a thousand stars at late night
Eyes on the motherland
Listening to the heavy rain and lightning
Startling thought were the bombs again
The old forest was green buds
Covering you with full sleep
The letter you were writing half
For whom fulfilled the oath….
***
To sow the letters at heaven gate
I go to sow the letters at heaven gate
The deep stream full of water, the letters fell wet
The muddy road is familiar
Slippery seasons, sliding seasons, my shirt is full of seasons
The running vehicle, the shadow in the afternoon rain
Picking up each letter to school from early mornings
Fields incubate seeds, the fragrance
Winding waves, sloping roads
Struggling with letters in the border area
The sunshine is dry and rocky, the rain is constantly drifting
The precarious streams and hills
I go to sow the letters, the wind is reading eh ah
The schoolyard blooms full of flowers
The teacher’s voice lectures the song of life
Happily bright and beautiful eyes
Welcoming every letter, childhood smiles…
***
You and the wind
The wind by chance passes by
Caressing each tangled hair
Rousing from cold ashes
Igniting the warm fire
The wind passes through winter
Wandering in spring and turning summer
In the schoolyard the cicadas sound bustles
The blue sky lights up by Delonix regia
The wind blows by the river
For whom to wait in the afternoons
Your love is like the blowing wind
Whole life dreams in vain
The wind passes by the field
The young paddy whispers the fragrance
Sweet couple loves
You and the immense wind…
***
To visit my old school
I’m back today
To visit teachers at old school
Friends are not seen
Lonely trees
Dear Delonix regia, are you sad
For long years away?
Is the road sad?
Without my footsteps?
Emotionally I recalled
Memories of old friends
Laughter’s shaken the mountains
Then sobbing like rain
The joy and sadness were with friends
Every step was with teachers
Can’t see it now
White sky, flying clouds …
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