Purple xoan flower

(Baonghean) - When the rape flowers are no longer yellow in the village fields, the xoan flowers show off their charm with a simple purple color in the country lanes.

As a continuation, also a sign that spring has entered its final stage, xoan flowers have the duty of calling the sun back, calling love back with pairs of quails looking for the season of love.

And to me, the heart-touching purple color of the flowers is like a call to my hometown, calling for the most familiar and peaceful things.

The last mahogany tree in my alley was cut down a few years ago. There are no longer many familiar trees in my garden or fence that bear the appearance of a poor countryside. The urban way of life has crept into this place for a long time, even though my neighborhood still grows vegetables and does farming, and herds of cows graze on the gradually shrinking fields.

Perhaps that is why, every March, when I pass by the country roads, I often look along the fence to see if the xoan flowers have bloomed yet. And my heart is filled with joy as if I have found something extremely precious when I encounter the gentle purple color, passing by naturally while wandering on the afternoon road, in a strange countryside. The car stops, my heart also stops under the canopy of flowers. I wander alone, following the flower traces to find the seasons of the past.

In the past, my hometown did not need to wait for xoan flowers as I do now. Because every garden had a few trees, like a familiar and peaceful village feature, and also a signal of the changing seasons calling the sun back to the small village. Not as splendid and brilliant as other fragrant and colorful species, xoan flowers create for themselves a very rustic color, like their own fate in the barren land of Central Vietnam.

Under the canopy of the xoan flowers, we children played interesting games with the dung beetles we had just caught in the evening or early morning. While we were engrossed in playing, the tiny xoan flowers gently fell on our shoulders and hair. A peaceful color sent off a season and also peacefully entered the cycle of time...

The flowers of the xoan tree are not fragrant, but rather unpleasantly strong for those with sensitive hearing. But for me, that scent still has the power to attract with a very intimate feeling. Especially at night, when everything gradually becomes silent, the nose can more easily distinguish between the many scents of the countryside.

Although not strong, the scent of xoan flowers travels far with the wind, slowly dissipating in the night air. If the night is more foggy, the scent will be even stronger, more closely entwined with the darkness of my homeland, with my nose that was following my heart that day.

The flowers are as simple as the countryside, as the villagers, as the hard-working fate of many generations of my ancestors. Perhaps that is why in the past, few people cut down the xoan trees growing in their gardens. When the xoan trees bloom, the sun begins to get harsh.

And at that time, sweat soaked the backs of our parents working hard in the fields to earn rice to feed us and guide the next generations to continue. Love for the flowers, love for the homeland, love for our parents and love for ourselves...

Nguyen Thanh Giang