"This potato is huge, Uncle Ho!"
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| Mr. Hoang Xuan |
The potato is huge, Uncle Ho!
I wish Uncle Ho would cook for me sometime soon.
We have fields and buffaloes thanks to Uncle Ho.
The Party and Uncle Ho's contributions will be remembered forever!
Nhat Tan, the son of Mr. Hoang Xuan, said that the poem was written in 1955, the first year of land reform. That day, in the fields of Yen So village (part of Dien Dong commune, Dien Chau district, Nghe An province), people were busy harvesting sweet potatoes. Suddenly, everyone around heard a shout: "That sweet potato is huge, Uncle Ho!" At the same time, they saw Mr. Xuan, with both hands, holding up a sweet potato as big as a calf and several handspans long. People gathered around, admiring, touching, and trying to taste this familiar yet strange produce. And Mr. Xuan, beside a pot of green tea at the edge of the field, successively composed the next three lines of the poem. The poem has been passed down orally ever since. A poem without a title!
If poetry is the voice of the heart, a kindred spirit, then this is the voice of a farmer who, for the first time in his life after the victory at Dien Bien Phu, became the master of his own land – a generational dream thought to be unattainable. Because it is so sacred and momentous, it can only be expressed through the simplest, most unadorned language, with the potato symbolizing the harvest, prosperity, and happiness. More profoundly, it is the cry of people liberated from the shackles of slavery, from oppression and injustice. And with sincerity and boundless gratitude, the farmer reports his first achievement to Uncle Ho in a naive and deeply moving way: "The potato is so big, Uncle Ho!" Perhaps nowhere else in the world has the Vietnamese people established such a close, intimate, and natural connection between citizens and their leader.
The potato is huge, Uncle Ho!
I wish Uncle Ho would cook for me sometime soon.
Our President Ho Chi Minh was so close to the people, understood them, and served them to the point of transcending boundaries, as exemplified by the simple act of boiling potatoes and offering them to him. This blood-and-flesh connection is the very essence of Ho Chi Minh's morality. It explains why, under the leadership of the Party, our nation defeated two powerful imperialist powers, France and the United States.
The author of the poem, Mr. Hoang Xuan, is no longer with us (he passed away in 1982 at the age of 83), but the verses he left behind remain fresh and relevant. The poem is worth contemplating, especially during these days when our people are responding to the great campaign "Studying and following the moral example of Ho Chi Minh"!
Phan Thế Phiệt -Yen Thanh Cultural Center
