Best Vietnamese Poems
a long parade of guests in pairs, longing for a chair or two,
a hundred or so, and their ice-creamed children,
pushing through the market sounds, the glistening fish and meat,
against the dying piggy- squeals, by the river’s flowing feet
wearing blacks and browns, some with prison- frowns, a tide against
the wedding's beach: and in amongst the throng, some young men in
bright shirts and Ray Ban shades, puzzled by the days significance, this
coiling snake of women’s delight
and as the anaconda enters the marital hall…(like Caesar coming into Rome),
the drunks, the pensive widows, the curious maids, their still pert breasts and
waists not yet destroyed by birth, dance in settled joy, into the leery mirth.
"Der aint nothin wrong with dat,"
said Haile Brown.
Mrs. Quincy's twin Vietnamese spotted ponies
had been shot
both dead
for trespassing on L. Ron Clark's property.
"They scared my sheep.
Chased em all over the place.
Aint gonna put up with none of that,"
said L. Ron Clark.
"Reckon she shoulda penned em up.
Cant spect no one to tol-rate that sorta nonsense,"
said Haile Brown.
Mrs. Quincy had a different view.
"I put up plenty of times
with them rotten sheep of his
grazing in my pasture.
You don't see me shooting them down."
Haile Brown worked as a ranch hand
for L. Ron Clark.
"So naturally his views would be tainted,"
said Mrs. Quincy.
"Views don't make no difference here,"
said L. Ron Clark.
"The facts is all layed out clear.
Them donkeys was trespassing.
Causing a ruckus among my flock.
I had just cause to shoot them."
Growing red in the face,
about ready to raise a donnybrook,
Mrs. Quincy replied:
"Shame on you! L. Ron Clark!
An experienced rancher of your sort
could have easier than not lassoed them ponies
and take them off
than load that gun
and aim and kill
them innocent creatures of God."
"I reckon Ma'am,
Mr. Clark done what he feel nec-sary,"
said Haile Brown.
"I reckon Mr. Brown!
that Mr. Clark! hasn't the character to do what's right,"
said Mrs. Quincy.
"And you're just an ignorant fool
who wouldn't know right from wrong
if it fell on your big toe."
Haile Brown sunk down
into his collar
ashamed to be put down
in such a way
by such a woman.
L. Ron Clark's mouth
fell open,
ready to respond...
but the sound of the gavel
put an end to it.
The Judge said,
"I've heard enough
from all of you.
I'll leave to my chamber
and come back with a decicion.
Until then,
try and be civil."
I knew you don't go in,
But I wasn't coming out.
When you're a fish in the fish bowl
Going belly up.
Vietnamese Tiger Bone Paste
How can it be? That a magnificent tiger gets turned into bone paste? I never knew it was possible. The email I got confirmed it was. Sign the petition they asked.
I did.
It's in Vietnam. Here the tigers are killed and then processed. I don't want to know how they do it. Or what it's used for. I thought it was only the Chinese who did things like this.
I was wrong.
The people who kill the tigers don't care they're endangered. That only a few are left. Their belief, rightly or wrongly, in the tiger paste and its uses will keep them doing their heinous trade.
Will the petition change anything?
I don't know but it's a start. Maybe corrupt officials and greedy hunters and bone grinders will think twice next time. We can but sign and hope. For the tigers and all the other endangered animals.
It's up to us to do something.
she says she is tired
she says
...things are not going so
well
she says
she can't hang her paintings
cause
the space isn't
right
she says
...things are not
going
not going so
well
i light a single stick
cheap
chinatown
incense
it worked in the 15 by 15 foot
buddhist temple
red
by the
freeway
for my
son
snuggling on my chest
my room is 15 by 15 foot
i
wonder if
it will work
as
well
Nguyen was quite a linguist
She spoke
Chinese
Japanese
Taiwanese
Vietnamese &
Cantonese
But not Americanese ~
Couldn't bling helserf to say 'Prease'
VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT
September afternoon in Saigon,
Delicately-embroidered decorative
Cloth-pieces on furniture,
From the French imperial era.
Scary African wood-carvings,
And my little girl frightened to even look
At some of the wooden masks.
Table in the near dark: a comfort away from
The glaring heat of the street.
Warm damp air wafting in from the delta filled
With fragrances of all sorts of fruit,
Some from local farms - huge strawberries
And luscious raspberries, and sunny bananas.
Some from much further afield, the promise of
Oranges from Brazil and mangoes from Cayenne.
Coffee being brewed and drunk in adjacent cafes
Was an additional reason for us to sniff the breeze deeply.
From inside, lip-licking aromatic hints
Of Vietnamese deep-fried food filled our nostrils.
Our hunger dissolved in the intoxication of wok-steamed pineapples,
Made us ravenous to explore the small dishes on offer.
Delicate French bowls and delicate delta prawns,
And small fried rolls of fish, unidentifiable but mouth-juicy:
All fingers had to be licked repeatedly
To get the last drop of flavor,
Giving her Dutch-courage to peep at the masks
Through tightly-closed fingers over her eyes.
I met a vietnamese woman in the C.B.D
She looked little, though, but truly dainty
We talked over fates and one's lot
I found her charitable and thoughty
The buddhism allotted her classy
Which brought the meeting a bit lucky
I imagined she might be an embodiment
Delivering me courages from unseen
By firm beliefs impressed me to follow
And by intelligence and courage to win
I believed making miracles can be possible
As long as mastering the life's essence
She is an Vietnamese I've only met
By the meeting, empathy and courage I had