we promise one another/ poems from an asian war : trinh công sơn

We promise one another/ poems from an Asia war-
selected, introduced , translated  
 by Don Luce + J.C. Schafer+ Jacquelyn Chagnon-
Published by The Indochina Education Project-
 Washington D.C. 1971


                                                         trịnh công sơn

                                          THE HERITAGE OF OUR MOTHER LAND
                                                      THE SAD COUNTRY OF VIETNAM


Trinh công Sơn lives with his mother, the brothers and five sisters in Huế, the bombed outshell of the Phú Cam Church.  Formely an elementary school teacher, he now spend most of his time writing songs and encouraging either young songwriters and singers.

At thirty two, he is considered to be one of the most popular folk singers in South Việtnam during the past decade.  He has been especially popular with Vietnamese young people.  Students sing his songs at settings and demons-
trations.  Tapes of his songs sung by Khánh Ly, a well known female vocalist, or by Trịnh công Sơn himself, are played coffee houses all over Việtnam and in the night clubs of the larger cities.  During the monsoon rains students sit in coffee houses listening to his songs, waiting for the rain to end and for peace to com to Việtnam.

Trịnh công Sơn' s songs were banned by the Ministry of Education in 1968 on the grounds that they weakened the will of the people to resist.  The ban has not been strictly enforced, however, and tapes of his songs circulate freely among the population.  He has refused invitations of the South Vietnamese Army' s Political Warfare Department to cooperate with them in propaganda efforts.  Despite the consistent anti-war mood quarters.  Many of the more radical students say his songs are to passive and do not emphasite the necessity of active struggle to bring down the Thiệu regime.  These students change the line of his song "Heritage of Our Mother land," which reads "Twenty years of civil war" to "Twenty years of American imperalists."

But Trịnh công Sơn is still very popular. He is respected for his modesty and his refusal to capitalize financially on his popularity. Thousand of his most popular collections of songs,"Song of the Golden Skinned People" and" Prayer for Việtnam," have been sold but he receives little money himself.  Tapes of his songs are widely sold but he receives no royalties.  Frail and unassuming, he accompanies himself on an old guitar worn and chipped around the edges.  He rarely sings in public now for fear of provoking the Thiệu government into talking some violent action against him.  But in the crowded cities and tense villages of South Việtnam, one still hears his songs singing of a heritage of sadness and hope for a brighter future.

           A thousand years of the Chinese,
           A hundred years dominated by the French,
           Twenty years of civil years,
           The heritage of our Mother Land,
           To leave for her children,
           The heritage of our Mother Land,
           The sad country of Việtnam,

                   A thousand years slaves of the Chinese,
                   A hundred dominated by the French,
                   Twenty years of civil war,
                   The heritage of our Mother Land,
                   A forest of dry bones,
                   The heritage of our Mother Land,
                   A mountain of graves,

            Teach the children the sound of truth,
            For the mother hopes her children won't forget their race,
            Their ancestors who built the old Việtnam,
            She waits for the children to come home,
            She waits for all children who are far away,
            Whenever they are
            They must forget how to hate.

             A hundred years slaves of the Chinese,
             A hundred years dominated by the French,
             Twenty years of civil war,
             The heritage of our Mother Land,
             Dry and barren rice fields,
             The heritage of burned houses.
              
             A thousand years slaves of the Chinese,
             A hundred years dominated by the French,
             Twenty years of civil war,
             The heritage of our Mother Land,
             People not true to their race,
             The heritage of our Mother Land,
             A land where honor is betrayed.


                           MADENNED BY THE WAR

              I had a love who died at the battle of Pleime,
              I had a lover who died at Battle Zone "D", 
              Who died at Đồng xoài
              Who died at Hanoi,
              He died far away on the distant frontier.

              I had a lover who died in the battle of Chru Pong,
              I had a lover whose body drifted along a river,
              Who died in the dark forest,
              Whose charred body lies cold and abandoned.

              I want to love you, love Việtnam,
              The day when the wind is trong,
              I whisper your name and the name of Việtnam,
              We are so close, the same voice and yellow race,
              I want to love you, love Việtnam,
              But as soon as I grow up my ears are accustomed
              To the sound of bullets and mines;
              My hands are not free but I forget from now on
                                                          the human language.

              I had a lover who died at Ashau,
              I had a lover whose twisted body lies in a valley,
              Who died under a bridge, naked and voiceless,
              I had a lover who died just last night,
              He passed away in a dream with no feelings of hate.


                              I SHALL GO VISITING

             When my land has peace
             I shall go visiting,
             I shall go visiting,
             Along a road will many foxholes.
             When my land is no longer at war
             I shall visit the green graves of my friends,
             When my land has peace,
             I shall go visiting
             I shall go visiting
             Over bridges crushed by mines,
             Go visiting
             Bunkers of bayonets and pungi sticks;
             When my people are no longer killing each other
             The children will sing children' s songs
             Outside on the street.

                     When my land has peace
                     I shall go and never stop
                     To Saigon, to the Center,
                     To Hanoi, to the South,
                     I shall go in celebration
                     And I hope I will forget
                     The story of my country.
                      []

                           < We promise one another / poems from an Asian war - p. 87-92>