The most important muse to the Vietnamese poets and musicians is neither man nor woman, but the Royal Poinciana tree, or “Phượng Vĩ.” Just the sheer number of times she is mentioned in songs and poetry can drive any mistress mad with envy.

Can you blame her? Just the name of her commands majestic beauty. A stature of every Vietnamese school yard in the sweltering summer months, she is upstaged by no one. Between April and June, her bashful green buds burst open overnight to reveal clusters of flamboyant scarlet petals - fiery fluttering fans reside atop large, feathery fern-like leaves, like a queen atop her throne. One look at these flowers and you know she’s done being shy. The queen is ready to peacock.

Beyond her sublime beauty, Phượng Vĩ earned her role as a literature mainstay because of her indispensable role in Vietnamese students’ lives. You cannot speak of “students” without instantaneously conjuring the image of Phượng Vĩ. Under her wide crimson canopy, innocent laughter echoes childhood recess games, and blushful first loves are journaled with deep violet ink on white notebook papers. 

Summer is synonymous with fresh-cut Phượng Vĩ flowers gracing the bicycle baskets of every Vietnamese school girl - perhaps given to her by a special someone? The end of May means a hastening deadline to harvest and dry those fiery Royal Poinciana petals to gift to your friends (or first love) - a way to capture those last schooldays memories forever between sheets of notebook papers, scribbled with wistful “forget-me-not” promises, now in tear-soaked violet ink.  How can any poet in his right mind ignore the romance of Phượng Vĩ?

But alas, as summer bows to fall, the prideful scarlet petals cover the ground and wither away, taking with them the childhood laughter, friendship promises, and budding romance that are now just distant melancholic echoes in the empty school yard. The lonely Phượng Vĩ tree stands…waiting…waiting…for the summer day when her glory returns once more.