Việt Nam Postcards

By Jake Dennis

Published 6 February 2024

Ho Hoàn Kiém, Hà Nội

The Lake of the Returned Sword

 

            Polished smiles—embalmed

            pearls from lacquered wood gleam—sweet

            Uncle Ho, Kim Qui.

 

 

Thiên Quang, Văn Miếu, Hà Nội

The Well of Heavenly Clarity, Temple of Literature

 

            cloudy pools—muffled

            ancient songs—the puzzle

            of foreign poems

 

 

            the stone turtles know

            turbid water is built from

            dust, microbes, light…

 

 

Hạ Long Bay, Quảng Ninh

 

            Plop! Squid bait drops. Come,

            sleek swimmers, the limestone’s cold.

            Stay with me, father.

 

 

Chùa Thiên Mụ gần Hương Giang, Hue

Relic of Thích Quảng Đức at Temple of the Celestial Lady near Perfume River

 

            saffron-flamed lotus

            on the road: petrol-bathed monk

            prays by blue Austin

           

 

Quan Công Miếu, Hội An

Chùa Ông Pagoda

 

            temple incense        

            ash replaces fragrant

            tourist promises

 

 

Chùa Cầu, Thu Bon Sông, Hội An

Japanese Temple Bridge

 

            coloured lanterns float

            below the bridge—each candle

            ferries hope

 

 

Phú Hiệp, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

Củ Chi Tunnels near Ho Chi Minh City

 

            aiming soldiers search

            between trees—our traps

            wait around for rats

           

           

            leaves, worms, visitors

            in the aborted helmet

            of a bomb’s blast

 

 

Bưu điện Trung tâm đối diện Nhà thờ Đức Bà Sài Gòn

Central Post Office opposite Notre-Dame Cathedral Saigon

           

            Chère Chérie, Nous sommes

            des mains séparées priant

            en Notre-Dame[1].

 

 

Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông

Mekong River Delta

 

            tipped workers showcase

            grilled frog, snake wine, kẹo dừa[2]:

            daily slum tour trade

 

 

            a child’s hand

            amid river garbage

            a lotus opens

 

           

Tay Do, Sông Hậu, Cần Thơ

By Can Tho River                                       

 

            night market exchange:

            between vendors, travellers

            mosquitoes shop

 

 

Cái Răng, Sông Cần Thơ

Floating Market River

           

            Tết dawn drips tart gold

            flesh, brown seeds. Ah!

            River’s tongue tastes boats.

 

 

 


[1] French: Dear Sweetheart, We are / separate hands praying / in Notre-Dame.

[2] Coconut candy.

Snapshots of Vietnam’s complex cultural history are explored in these haiku-inspired postcards completed a decade after the Burmese-Australian poet and his parents visited Vietnam. Written to guide readers from northern to southern Vietnam, they are a curated collection of site-informed invitations to discover aspects of Vietnam’s complicated rich cultural histories (i.e. Vietnam’s artistic, ecological, culinary, literary, political, religious, local, multi-national, and tourist conflicts, connections, and symbols).

Jake's Vietnam Postcards is a suite of poems that help you travel from Vietnam’s legendary contemporary capital of Hanoi to the former French Indochina capital of Saigon and the journey beyond.

Discover more about Vietnam with these search terms: The Myth of the Returned Sword, Vietnamese lacquer painting, Uncle Ho, Hoàn Kiếm turtle, Heavenly Clarity Well, Temple of Literature, Shijing, stele turtles, Thích Quảng Đức, Vietnam lotus, Halong Bay, Japanese Temple Bridge, French Indochina, kẹo dừa, Củ Chi Tunnels, tunnel rats, Tết.

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