Poetry: M. Jahangir Khan
*In Tribute to Ho Chi Minh*
O Comrade Ho, whose memory still burns bright,
A torch of freedom in imperial night,
Vietnam’s revolution, firm and true,
A people’s saga history never outgrew.
Against the farms the Yankee cannons roared,
Yet peasants stood where foreign boots had poured;
With workers joined, the humble claimed their might,
And broke the chains of empire’s darkest blight.
You knew, great Ho, the path that must be trod:
The land reclaimed, the people crowned as god;
Through jungle paths the guerrilla voices rang,
Till stolen soil to rightful hands once sprang.
Not tanks nor gold your victory secured,
But faith of masses—patient, firm, assured;
By people’s diplomacy, wide and just,
You crushed the throne of hegemony’s dust.
Across the seas your doctrine still inspires,
Where freedom’s cause against oppression fires;
In Latin lands, where struggles reappear,
Your echoes march in every brave frontier.
Though hostile winds may seize the present hour,
And storm the dreams of nations meant to flower,
Like Vietnam, new victories shall rise—
For justice lives where people organize.
—
The Light of Renewal
You rose, great Ho, like sunrise after rain,
Teaching reform without surrender’s chain;
Doi Moi proclaimed: renew, but still be free,
Let growth walk hand in hand with sovereignty.
Integration, not as vassal’s plea,
But equals bound in shared humanity;
From village huts to global paths of trade,
The farmer’s dream no longer stood afraid.
Each village heart a marketplace of pride,
Each working hand the world’s true wealth supplied;
No wall between the native and the guest,
But cooperation judged the noblest test.
Your diplomacy—immortal, calm, and wise—
Still blooms wherever people organize;
Through rail and road, through culture’s gentle art,
You joined the world by mind, not only mart.
—
Homage
So now we bow with land and spirit one,
And greet your birth beneath the ageless sun;
One-thirty-five years—yet still you stand,
A living guide for every struggling land.
To Vietnam—its diplomacy we praise:
Pioneering steps, creative ways;
Proactive peace, with justice as its core,
A people’s path—forever, evermore.
