After coming back from my mini-vacation in the South, I
realized that I have taken Hue for granted. Here I am, zooming off here and
there, and I never really gave her a chance. Also, during the midterm exams,
two of the questions were, “If I should go to one place in Hue, where should I
go?” and “If I could try one Hue dish, what should I try?” These two main names
kept popping up: Thien Mu Pagoda, and bun bo Hue. After having processed the
signs, I took my own little Alchemist-like trip around the city by bike and
went and stopped wherever my journal wanted to go. I kept my ears perked for
the sounds of the city and my mind churning through figurative language to
describe my experience in the right words. Every time I found a scenic place to
stop, I would take out my journal (given to me by my CMs this past summer!) and
pen and let the words flow.
Admittedly, it felt awkward at first. The words coming from
the tip of the pen were so mechanical. I haven’t written in so long – it was as
though my journal was trying to spit back out my poor attempt of capturing such
a beautiful city through mediocre language. However, the more I absorbed myself
in my surroundings and took the extra steps necessary to capture the perfect
mental image, the more natural my writing felt. Interestingly enough, my words
evolved from focusing on personification, to an ode to the city, to a love
story between Hue and me. I guess I just needed to get over my fear of penning
down horrible writing to just letting things come naturally. (Side Note: Any
one in Hue interested in starting up a Poetry Club?)
One day, I’ll post the edited version of my poem here. For
now, I will bask in the memory of the beauty I was able to absorb within the three short
hours I spent with a beautiful city named Hue.
No comments:
Post a Comment