The 6th of June of each year is special to the poet Mend-Ooyo. In 2012, on this day, his novel Gegeenten (The holy one) was first published. In 1980, his first poetry book titled Birds of Thought was also published on this day. 

This year, he spent the special day occupied by his travels to the western region of Mongolia. His travels had led him to the border where he climbed up the Munkhkhairkhan mountain, one of the Altai mountains, and visited the urianhai people. When he returned to the capital of Khovd province, it was the 6th of June. There, he found a tree that had been planted by Yavuuhulan, his poetry teacher, during his travels to Khovd city in 1973. Yavuuhulan dedicated a poem “A lullaby for the fourth number tree of Khovd city” to the tree he planted in the garden of the province. Mongolians now call the tree “poetry tree”, showing their respects and recalling Yavuuhulan when visiting the tree. Mend-Ooyo paid his respects to the legendary tree and recited a few of his late mentor’s verses. Upon returning to the “Steppe Hotel” he was delighted to find that the staff were preparing to plant some trees in the area. He gleefully joined them and planted a tree of his own. Encouraging the growth of his new tree, he wrote:

Grow my tree time after time

Grow flourishing your white flowers

Grow till berries burst from your buds!

Grow to symbolize all of happiness!

lullaby, lullaby, my tree lullaby...

2019-06-06