What is simple and honest will last forever in this life.

“

My mother, the old brown shirt

Mother sat on two brown shirts
Three incense sticks lit, prayer smoke drifts
Late at night the sound of the pot is dry and thin
The stars are broken into pieces, the wind blows painfully

Sounds like an echo from the past
In the mist, the sound of temple bells every night
Those who return to nature
Hide from the world under the door of Zen... who

Faith in a tomorrow
Singing clay statues, sacred temples
Overcome suffering, humiliation, resentment and meanness
Step over desire, burn to Nirvana

Tonight three incense sticks burn out
Water in a cup, a thousand lullabies
My mother, the old brown shirt
Hands respectfully clasped, the smoke obscures the world

NGUYEN VIET CHIEN

Poet Nguyen Viet Chien sketched a portrait of his mother in the simplest colors like a pencil sketch: Mother and the old brown shirt.

Vietnamese mothers seem to be like that. The brown shirt is the color of the earth, the color of the countryside, the color of simple yet noble character. But the talented poet of Ha Tay at that time was still able to find the unique features in his mother:Mother sits with two flaps of brown shirt/ Three incense sticks lit, prayer smoke rising/ Outside in the night the sound of a dry cauldron/ Stars broken into pieces, the wind blows sadly.

In a quiet night that seemed to freeze all the worries of the world, the mother sat there in peace amidst the hustle and bustle of life around her. It was not a clear moonlit night, the cool breeze of folk songs, not a quiet night with falling frangipani flowers in temples, but a night of dry, skinny cranes on their migration journey, the sky filled with fragments of stars.(fragments). And even the wind is blowing in anguish. And just like that, an old day appears:It sounds like an echo from ancient times/ In the mist and smoke, the sound of the temple gong every night/ Those who return to nature/ Hide from the world under the Zen door... those who.

Two indefinite pronouns"Who"repeated in two adjacent verses but each time differently. Leaving behind the hustle and bustle and ambition is easy but sincerely"back to the Zen door"It is difficult to be truly enlightened about life. And at that time, faith is the candle that shines a miraculous light, guiding people through the dark night of ignorance. Faith brings people to goodness.

Faith in a tomorrow/ Singing clay statues, sacred temples/ Trample through suffering, humiliation, resentment, and meanness/ Trample through desires, burn up Nirvana.Reading this whole poem, many people will probably enjoy the image most:Step over desire, burn to Nirvana. Nirvana- The goal of spiritual practice is right in our hearts. That magical flame must be lit by ourselves or as people say: Buddha is in the heart.

The poem ends with sacredness and simplicity, as a traditional way of behaving of Vietnamese people towards faith:Tonight three incense sticks burn out/ Water in a cup, a thousand lullabies/ My mother, the hem of her old brown dress/ Her hands respectfully clasp the smoke that obscures the world. Perhaps, few people realize the special thing in the familiarity for so long. No magic, no need for lavish feasts, all it takes is:Water in a cup, a thousand lullabies.The image of the mother seems to fade but also seems to be carved into the mind:Hands respectfully clasped, the smoke obscures the worldgently concluded the poem about mother.

The poem is as gentle as its title: My mother, the old brown shirt, but it is enough to evoke an impression. Buddhism, mother or countryside are all eternal because of their simplicity, closeness, familiarity but also very noble and sacred. Or in other words, what is simple and honest will last forever in this life...