To The Moon...

Today, my mom asked me to take my grandpa downtown to this Celebration of Cultures performance for the World Bank. Apparently they have these every week for seven weeks, each performance showcasing a different region of the world. My grandpa today was to recite one of his poems in both Vietnamese and English.

I was so glad I went! Not only did we get to see all these great dances (this one couple, in particular, did the Tango, which was amazing and so fun to watch. I definitely need to learn how to really "dance" one of these days...) and other acts, but I got to see my gramps in his element, which gave me one of those momentary bursts of inspiration and motivation to write more and do the whole journalistic/poetic/writer thing like he has done.

[edit: As an aside, at least three people thought that my grandpa could have been my dad and not my grandpa. I think that spoke more to his youth and health than it did to my "adult" looking self, as people usually think I'm about 16-17... Anyway, it was odd/surprising/funny.]

The poem was written as a reaction in thought and feeling after the first man landed on the moon in 1969. It was truly fascinating to hear it from a poet's point of view. My grandpa first read an explanation about his poem, recited it in Vietnamese, then gave the English translation. It was so interesting, and upon hearing the story behind it, I immediately fell in love with it. It was probably half because of the creative/poetic/artistic element of it-- the way it evokes this sense of romance and fantasy-- and half because it gave me that instant connection to my grandpa after hearing him explain it to me personally before he went on stage.

The story of the poem is based upon three basic legends. The first is an old Chinese legend, which says that Emperor Tang Xuan Zong dreamt that he was in the moon and saw the Fairy Dancer Ni Chang. He also saw other beautiful fairies singing and dancing around him , adorned in feathers and among rosy clouds. They fed him delicious cake, which is what we know today as "moon cake." (Interesting trivia, eh?)

There is also a Vietnamese legend that tells the story of the Liar Cuoi, who was the keeper of his uncle's buffaloes. One day he let them graze among some young rice plants, and to avoid his punishment, he fled to the moon to live with the Moon Fairy and took with him his banian tree, under which he usually found peace.

The last story is that in the olden days, Lovers took an oath of fidelity under a full moon. They cut their hair and exchanged the tufts as tokens of their love.

People in Vietnam, particularly poets, cherished the aforementioned stories and characters that painted this poetic and mystical portrait of the moon. All the American scientific achievements, namely the exploration of the moon in 1969, gave them a sense of regret and longing for the old poetic moon as they had imagined it, and all that remained was essentially an empty, deserted rock.

So, that is the explanation for the poem. Read on, read on.


To The Moon

Vanished is now the dream of Emperor Tang Xuan Zong
Vanished also the Fairy Dance Ni Chang
My early dream disappeared finally
No more Liar beneath the banian tree

Spitting smoke and fire the rocket took off
The flying ship went into space aloft
Up to the moon to study and search
For more vital space on the mournful desert.
The lunar vehicle went up for conquest of space
And broke up my dream of the Fairy Palace.

Next time when you go up there, go and see
The immortal pretty and young moon Fairy.
Make a stopover beneath the banian
And bring back the Liar to his native land.

O Moon! I'm still dreaming of the HoneyMoon
Of newlywed lovers,
With their oath witnessed by the satellite in full
Just once but forever.


Saigon 1969 (following the First American space launch to the Moon)

by Ha Binh Trung