Picture of All Seasons

[Nguyễn Vân Mai (nvanmai)]

* Topic: Poem
* Title: Picture of All Seasons
* Writer's name: Le Thuy Hanh
* Class and high school: A3 Hanoi-Amsterdam (1996-1999)
Email : [email protected]

Picture of All Seasons​

I can see the stars

in the sky of the summer nights

floating in the foamy waves of the seaside.



I can hear the sound

of a leaf

gone with the wind

falling down the ground,

Where I can feel the autumn's smell

of the magnolia in the air

spreading from a girl's long hair,



I can remember a blue eye

in a cold winter day

last saw me

before its leaving

left a hurt inside

deeply.

And the moment of realizing

its getting warmer

The cry of a new-born child

through the sound of the countryside

despite of hard days

left behind.



I can imagine the spring idyll

with the songs of the Red River Delta.

The sky as a portion of a sphere

and the earth as a square

shown in plain cakes and stewed ones children share.



I can draw a colorful picture of all seasons

with all happiness and pain

we have

when the days pass by

and the hope for the bright future sights,

lies in the difficulties we have in our lives

For the days and nights.

 

[Nguyễn Vân Mai (nvanmai)]

Comments from the Writing Contest Board of Examiners

“It’s a nice picture. Initially, it seems to be a quiet and peaceful one. However, in the middle of the picture there is a human being whose mind wanders a lot. That person also has all soggy emotions deep down. The painting, therefore, has two interesting layers. As a picture, it’s more half clear half indistinct, which is probably what the writer aims for. However, as a poem, this is not so original and I have the feeling the author put together separate pieces of phrases and sentences that rhyme. The writer probably didn’t plan out the beginning and the end of this poem. It’s common to let emotions direct your words but a final touch is needed to make a good poem. About grammar, there are some very basic errors.”

“This is original, creative and very touching. I like this poem a lot. Creative instead of skilled, she must have written with a lot of enthusiasm and love, and that's how the poem finds it way to its readers' heart. The poem is deep; it sketches a picture of life in the four seasons in which both people and nature are imbued with different kind of emotion, and that creates a sense of things moving and life forging ahead. At times though, there are still some mistakes in expression such as " Despite of", "a blue eye," "its leaving", "its feeling warmer".”