Meeting Bui Tin and Bui Diem in Long Beach
By Phan Tan Hai
Tugged a sleeve to jot a few words,
the two elders asked, for what?
a whole century of history—
democracy slipping off its path.
Tugged a sleeve for a photograph,
the two elders asked, what for?
the Ben Hai River still cold,
resentment on that side, sorrow on this.
Tugging a sleeve, no words left—
tears chilled on both shores;
meeting again in misty streets,
mountains and rivers lost in drifting verse.
— California, June 2017
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