Nguyen Trong Tao - A talented and personable person from Nghe An

I have been close to poet Nguyen Trong Tao for more than a third of a century. To me, he is a musician, a poet, a literary critic, a journalist, a brother, a talented friend, rich in personality from Nghe An. Living with him is always joyful, trusting, humorous, loving people, loving life, respecting poetry and literature, fellow countrymen and colleagues.

Musician and poet Nguyen Trong Tao is a person who: Likes to drink alcohol without getting drunk. Smokes a lot without being addicted. Takes poetry and music as a source of joy. Takes his homeland as a fulcrum. Takes IT to apply, connect, share and spread. Therefore, he always lives in people's hearts and people always exist in his memories.

Last year he had a stroke, and every time I visited him, I saw that he was recovering quite quickly, and I was very happy. But the joy did not last long, and I heard that he had terminal lung cancer. Every time I visited him in the hospital or at home, I saw his health gradually decline, and I felt pity, admiration, and love for him silently. Even though I knew he had a serious illness and that his life would not last long, he was still optimistic and enthusiastic, welcoming us warmly and seeing us off thoughtfully and affectionately; still talking about poetry and literature about what he was doing and what he planned to do; still reminding me of the work of the Nghe An Association in Hanoi and the striving goals of the Nghe An Tam Tai Fund, of which he was an active member of the Advisory Council, so that we could pay more attention and care for the young talents of his hometown. He had a deep and affectionate relationship with his hometown. At every meeting of the Association of Fellow Countrymen in many fields, he attended to give comments, read poems and sang enthusiastically, helping to make the atmosphere of the meetings more lively, joyful and full of Nghe An love.

I knew he would pass away, but I hoped he would live a little longer to celebrate Tet, enjoy spring, and live another year longer. But I didn’t expect him to pass away so quickly. I miss him so much that I don’t know what to say, so I’ll just write these lines as a flower, a stick of incense to send him off to his eternal resting place. He’s gone, but his works, his personality, and his talent will remain forever in the hearts of the people of Nghe An, his literary friends, his brothers, comrades, fellow countrymen, and colleagues./.