Pham Quoc Ca: A poetic heart that has stopped beating.

Poet Pham Quoc Ca.

As a poet, a doctor of literature, and a teacher who spent almost his entire life in Da Lat, poet Pham Quoc Ca always yearned for memories of his homeland, where the Bung River (Dien Chau) reflected the image of the small village of Tho Khanh with all its cherished memories:

"Remember those bitterly cold days of northerly winds."

Rain falls, blurring the fields.

Wet haystacks beside rows of leafless crape myrtle trees.

The cow was thin and emaciated in the winter.

The longing for his mother, his sister, and his beloved childhood home constantly torments him; the poet's heart always throbs with these distant memories. All of this pours into his poetry with heavy emotions, a poignant yearning for his homeland.

Reading the poetry collections "The Sound of the Heart," "Village in Nostalgia," "Open Horizon," "Forests, Songs," or "Poems Written in an Album," we encounter a range of emotions directed towards our ancestral homeland. Each collection features poems deeply imbued with love for home, such as: "Beside Mother's Grave," "The House Left Behind," "Visiting My Sister," "Suddenly Awakened by the Rooster's Crow," "Village in Nostalgia," "Poetry Friend," and "At Dawn, I Will Set Off." Even love poems like "Spring Rain," "Dalat with You," and "The Messenger Moon" are all connected to images of the village and the longing of a son far from home. Nostalgia in Pham Quoc Ca's poetry is primarily a longing for his village, linked to his impoverished and difficult childhood.

Oh, the old days!

That was my childhood.

The chill follows the memories.

A small village with a thousand years of straw and bamboo

(Missing Mom)

The poetry collection "Golden Rain" by poet Pham Quoc Ca.

Remembering one's hometown means remembering one's mother; the image of the mother appears frequently in Pham Quoc Ca's poetry, occupying a large part of the poet's memories, with verses brimming with love for his mother:

"My armrest keeps me awake all night."

"I miss my mother's warm, soft hands from the past."

(A Mother's Lullaby at Night)

In the poem "At Dawn, My Child Sets Off Again," we encounter a hardworking and resilient mother:

"During the years when we fought the Americans deep in the jungle."

My mother endured many cold, wet rainy seasons there.

Keep your eyes on my child.

A deafening explosion

My mother's heart was bombed every day.

The years my child returned to university.

The mother loves her grandchild dearly, spending her nights wearing out her shoes and carrying the hammock.

My mother's night is always so vast.

"The lullaby is full of the crescent moon..."

Poet Chung Tu recounted his memories of meeting Pham Quoc Ca in Da Lat, where the latter choked up as he recited poems about his mother and older brother. These moving verses commemorated his brother, martyr Pham Van Cu, who died on the battlefield in Tay Ninh in 1969.

"I searched for you throughout the forests."

The wood is covered with countless names carved into its grain.

Where is he buried?

Smoke and fire engulfed the four corners of the earth.

"It was as if every bomb blast echoed in his area."

Or verses brimming with love for her brother and mother:

"Some nights, Mom dreams that he comes home."

Then I woke up, startled, and burst into tears.

"I kept waiting for something that no longer exists."

With such heartfelt and poignant verses, it's clear that poet Pham Quoc Ca could never forget his childhood days with his mother and family. Images of his homeland remain a deeply cherished part of his memory. I recall that when Pham Quoc Ca submitted these works to the editorial board of the "Voice of Poetry" program on Vietnam Radio, poet Nguyen Bui Voi, then editor of the program, exclaimed: "This is definitely Ca's work! My fellow countryman!" The "Voice of Poetry" program subsequently broadcast poems about his homeland and mother by Pham Quoc Ca, receiving enthusiastic feedback from listeners nationwide.

Speaking of friendship, poet Pham Quoc Ca also holds deep affection for poet Nguyen Trong Tao - a talented artist from the same hometown of Dien Chau, to whom he dedicated a poem:

"Do you remember the day you went to school wearing your straw hat?

My childhood was marked by bombs raining down on the schoolyard!

...

It's been a long time since I've felt the hot wind in my hometown.

Every time I come home, I look across the river."

In that nostalgic moment, poet Pham Quoc Ca couldn't help but admire his talented friend:

"He became an artist while still a soldier."

Talents: Music, painting, literature

My heart is silently ripening.

"Poetry ignites the bombs and flames of the battlefield."

Pham Quoc Ca's poetry matured late, but it has been refined over time, through bombs and bullets, through trials, so that now readers nationwide can enjoy and appreciate a simple, emotional, and heartfelt poetic soul.

Today, the heart of poet Pham Quoc has stopped beating, but his poems about his motherland, Dien Chau, still resonate, stirring deep emotions within him.

"I left the house to be quiet."

Night after night, the moon shines on the empty garden.

During the Qingming Festival, I didn't return home to light incense at my mother's grave.

I miss those golden sunsets."

(The house is being left behind)

That house will now welcome him back to his homeland, to the cool, green Bung River, to the riverbanks, rice paddies, and bamboo groves… It is where he was born, grew up, and where he has returned.

"We grew up in our mother's acacia wood house."

Let's divide the gift first, then you.

The son grew up measuring the house pillars.

"The durable coat is passed from one person to another."

Pham Quoc Ca has published six poetry collections and anthologies, winning 12 literary awards for poetry and literary criticism. These collections include: “The Sound of the Deep” (poetry collection, 1987), “Open Horizon” (poetry collection, 1994), “Village in Nostalgia” (poetry collection, 1996), “The Forests, the Songs” (poetry collection, 2004), “Some Issues in Vietnamese Poetry 1975-2000” (essay, 2003), “Poetry Written in Albums” (poetry collection, 2010), and “Poetry and Several Literary Issues” (essay, 2017).