Welcoming Spring

Tết đến tí tách pháo nổ đầu năm
Cả nhà khanh khách tiếng cười ngày Xuân.

Literal English Translation version:
New Year’s firecrackers crackling and flying with sparks
Family reunion gathering filled with laughter and happiness.

Writer’s Notes
Playing on the Vietnamese rhythmic sounding compound words of “tí tách” (lit. crisply crack) and “khanh khách” (lit. giggling laugh) in parallel, respectively on each of the two line verses, is to depict the sight and sound of the Vietnamese New Year festival, which is best known as “Tet” (Vietnamese: Tết).

Conceived and recorded back sometime between summer and fall of 2007, this couplet is the first pair of eight character verses I had attempted to come up with for the 2008 Vietnamese “Tet” New Year.

Although the couplet was intended to be written for such occasion, I didn’t officially put it on display or to publicize electronically, excepting for sending them as a part of the Lunar New Year’s wishes to family and friends.

With the 2010 Tet festival that is fast approaching, it seems fitting to blog this couplet at the stroke of midnight on the Lunar New Year’s Eve to say goodbye with the old and welcome the new year. Still, preserve and capture the true atmosphere of Tet; happy family laughing in celebrating the joy of reunion at the sound of the firecrackers crackling and showering with sparks.