tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-219412582024-03-14T02:18:56.850-07:00Soul VangTo live here, one must take air, but taking air commits you to sharing it. ~ Robert Bly
Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-6658901371905978602017-08-28T08:40:00.002-07:002017-08-28T08:40:24.992-07:00WallsThere is<br />
no need<br />
to build<br />
The Wall.<br />
There are<br />
walls<br />
enough. Some days<br />
we can't<br />
penetrate<br />
the walls<br />
of our nations,<br />
states,<br />
cities,<br />
blocks,<br />
houses, the walls<br />
of our<br />
skins.<br />
<br />
<br />Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-28859015265023245832016-03-13T10:40:00.001-07:002016-03-19T15:32:51.017-07:00Dance Every Dance<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "garamond"; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> - <i style="font-weight: normal;">To My Daughter, In Her Last Year of High School</i></span></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is only the beginning of spring </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Of your high school senior year, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But you are already looking ahead</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To that college degree, that cool career, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That big house with the neat lawn in the suburb.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Slow down, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">miv ntxais!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is good to have goals, and the plans</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To get you there. But there is no hurry. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The future will come</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rushing at you; and before you know, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You will be overwhelmed</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By the demands of degrees, careers, and mortgages.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now is the time to slow down, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To stretch time </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like a movie playing </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In slow motion:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Enjoy every slow walk </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Under the shady trees. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squeeze every drop of knowledge </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From your senior classes.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Savor every conversation </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With friends at recess. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sing every song </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With the choir. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.666666666666664px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dance every dance</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At the prom…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 18.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-56737276899028689552015-09-25T00:54:00.003-07:002015-09-25T00:54:56.226-07:00Sentence ~for James Baldwin<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The sentence, you said, must be pared<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to the bare bone. This was years after you left New York <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">for Paris, $40 in your pocket, with ragged duffle bag <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">of few clothing and early novel manuscripts <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">you would lose crossing the Atlantic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You had to leave, you said, after your best friend <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">jumped from the George Washington Bridge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You knew you would follow his flight,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">would have gone under those dark waters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You said, to be a black man in America<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">was to feel perpetual rage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">that had to be creatively channeled<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">or it would consume others<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and oneself. I have seen firsthand this rage engulfing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the most unlikely— Demby, 22, husband and father from
Philadelphia,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">joined a gang of fellow black soldiers, mugging,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">vandalizing till turned in by undercover black brother,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">sentenced to prison. Demby was my army buddy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">who nicknamed me <i>Cool
Breeze</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">for my laidback attitude and originality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This happened in the U.S. Army, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">which I had joined with intuitive urgency:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Being the son of conscripted Hmong SGU soldier<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">who fought fifteen years under CIA orders, abandoned, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">managed to escape across Mekong River<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">with pocketful of worthless <i>kips</i>, ragged clothing,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to start new life in America as janitor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What he could show me was to fight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and to clean others’ messes, so I escaped <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">into the U.S. Army, pared my life to the bare bone <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to find the essential, spent years among new brothers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">rewriting my life word by word,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">sentence by sentence, into a story<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I can now understand. As I am now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">beginning to understand my brother Demby;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">you, Baldwin, his brother; and that wave of young Hmong American
men—<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my generational brothers who quietly suicided<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in stuffy rooms and dusty garages,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and those who lived on <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in shade-drawn rooms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">or exploded with bats, knifes, guns<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">in narrow apartment-block alleys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Yes, our sentences must be pared<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to the bare bone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-52948599313418783292015-08-26T23:59:00.002-07:002015-08-28T14:17:17.762-07:00Anchor Babies<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ccBj-46XGo/Vd68fhj4IaI/AAAAAAAADbM/6MzYIBqxmrU/s1600/To%2BLive%2BHere3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9ccBj-46XGo/Vd68fhj4IaI/AAAAAAAADbM/6MzYIBqxmrU/s320/To%2BLive%2BHere3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sunshine, my oldest: cautious, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">daring. Nineteen, half-adult,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">half teen…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Blossom, second born: stoic,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">steady. Seventeen, going on<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">twenty-seven…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Blessing, first son: answer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to prayers. Thirteen, still loves<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">playing in sand…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lucky, last born: surprise<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">gift. Eleven, avid swimmer,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">adventurer…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They are my sunrise,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my sunset… My true north,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my deep south…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Without them, I am Titanic <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">crashing against ice burgs, Hindenburg <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">scattering fire across plain, tumble weed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">rolling through high desert…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sunshine!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Blossom!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Blessing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lucky!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They are m</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">y winds,</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my tethers… My branches,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my roots...</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My anchors,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">my babies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-25479987086642939302014-07-11T16:27:00.000-07:002014-11-27T02:47:07.941-08:00Pilot Car<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are driving up the sequoia-lined road,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">beyond Shaver Lake, climbing </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">towards Huntington
Lake,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">mood-calming acoustic music pouring from the
stereo. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I am sending my older daughter to her first job <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">as a dishwasher and prep-cook<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">at the Boy Scouts camp in the Sierra Nevada<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">for these few summer months, before she goes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">to college in another state, then on <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">to a two-year mission, perhaps in another
country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I am driving at the speed limit, maintaining<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">speed on the </span>straight-ways<span style="font-size: 12pt;">, relaxing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">on the curves, when suddenly I am stopped<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">by an orange road crew in reflective vests<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">and hard hats. They motion me to slowly move
forward <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">and follow an orange car with blinking amber roof
light<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">and a sign on the back: PILOT CAR / FOLLOW ME<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The pilot car slowly guides me past road crews <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">removing boulders fallen onto the roadway. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">He leads and I follow for a quarter mile, then he
pulls over <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">and waves me on with a cautious hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I distractedly return his wave, already facing
forward,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">and step on the gas to make up for lost time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">My daughter and I get to the <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">trail-head</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">that leads to the camp just in time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Other workers are already on an ATV truck, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">my daughter the last one to climb aboard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I lift her duffel bags onto the cargo bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">and turn to say goodbye, but<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">she has already turned to face the front <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">as the ATV starts forward</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">and disappears into the wooded trail.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-85409675268038424862014-07-09T19:30:00.001-07:002014-07-12T23:52:59.322-07:00Springville ~ <em>for Ze Yang (Txhaj Zeb Yaaj) R.I.P.</em><br />
<br />
Come, father, let's go<br />
To your new home, on a throne<br />
Of mountains. The foothills<br />
For your pedestal, two peaks<br />
For your armrests, the Sierra Nevada<br />
For your crown. In this halo<br />
Of hills, among dust and wind,<br />
Cradled by a clear stream<br />
To quench your thirst<br />
And rinse your feet, lighted<br />
By a fiery sun rising<br />
Over your shoulders,<br />
You will rest, then rise<br />
To watch over<br />
Your posterity<br />
For eternity.<br />
<br />Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-16041120531962407412013-10-15T20:50:00.001-07:002014-07-02T12:20:03.363-07:00Sweeping ~<em>for Averardo</em><br />
<br />
Sweeping is usually <br />
A good thing—it cleanses<br />
And renews. We sweep crackers <br />
Fallen on the floor, leaves crumbling<br />
On the driveway. We even sweep<br />
Gangs, drugs, and crimes away <br />
From our streets. But<br />
We should never<br />
Sweep students to or from<br />
Our schools—we help<br />
Them to get up earlier,<br />
Get to class on time,<br />
And succeed.<br />
A student, after all, is not<br />
A floor, nor<br />
A fallen<br />
Crumb.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-77058281422275820282013-04-28T00:35:00.001-07:002014-06-20T23:18:56.451-07:00You are HmongIf I say "July 4th"<br />
and you think of St. Paul;<br />
<br />
If I say "New Year"<br />
and you think of Fresno;<br />
<br />
If I say "home"<br />
and you have to pause to think where it is;<br />
<br />
If, for you, jingle bells<br />
has double connotations;<br />
<br />
If, entering the house, you leave <br />
your shoes at the door;<br />
<br />
If you, or your parents, don't know<br />
your real birthdays;<br />
<br />
....<br />
<br />
If you fear your funeral<br />
more than you fear death;<br />
<br />
You are Hmong.<br />
<br />
<br />Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-28607939867273857592013-04-23T09:01:00.002-07:002016-03-13T10:42:09.707-07:00Learning to Eat the KumquatI planted the tree out of curiosity<br />
the year we moved to this new house,<br />
two years after our older son was born<br />
with frontal cortex injury, one year<br />
before our second son was diagnosed<br />
with autism spectrum disorder.<br />
<br />
I first planted it in the shade<br />
under the grape arbor, then transplanted it<br />
the next year to the far side of the yard,<br />
where each year it has grown more bushy<br />
and bore more and more of its brilliant yellow<br />
pearls that we would try to eat-- peeling<br />
the orange skin, eating the acid pulp.<br />
<br />
Each time we would spit it out in sour<br />
perplexity--how could anyone eat<br />
of such a fruit? It wasn't until this year<br />
that we learned to properly eat the fruit<br />
from some wise friends who came to visit.<br />
<br />
You see, the way to eat the kumquat<br />
is to pick it off the tree, rinse it<br />
in clear water, roll the fruit gently<br />
between thumb and index finger<br />
to mix the sweet and the bitter juices,<br />
pop it in the mouth and bite through peel<br />
and pulp, swallowing the whole.<br />
<br />
<br />Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-59229665986276204142013-04-18T15:41:00.000-07:002013-04-18T15:43:17.869-07:00The ProphecyOur parents, out of hope<br />
and fear, consulted a <i>saub,</i><br />
asking: which of their sons<br />
and daughters would grow up<br />
to be good. The oracle told them<br />
only one son and one daughter<br />
would turn out good.<br />
<br />
So our parents picked one<br />
likely son and one promising<br />
daughter to focus on<br />
and ignored the rest.<br />
And like any good self-fulfilling<br />
prophecy, it proceeded<br />
to be fulfilled--only,<br />
<br />
we children refused our roles.<br />
We each, in turn, became good<br />
and bad, at different times<br />
and to different degrees.<br />
And so the prophecy was fulfilled<br />
to the letter.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-51729792020002945042013-02-19T19:41:00.003-08:002013-04-28T01:13:29.743-07:00The Bamboo GroveA desperate bird,<br />
fleeing rain, stumbles<br />
upon my little grove<br />
of bamboo,<br />
darts in with a cry<br />
of relief--<br />
don't ask me how<br />
I know, <br />
for I surely speak<br />
no language<br />
of birds.<br />
But I understand<br />
the sound<br />
of immense relief<br />
when finding shelter--<br />
even if only temporarily--<br />
amid storms.<br />
<br />
To all of us, creatures<br />
big and small, fleeing<br />
rain and storms:<br />
May the blessed<br />
bamboo groves be there<br />
when we desperately <br />
need them. May we<br />
conveniently shelter<br />
in their thick foliage<br />
in our journeying. Till<br />
that final day<br />
when we finally reach<br />
the eternal<br />
bamboo grove.<br />
<br />Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-72692193217299156852012-11-28T13:39:00.000-08:002012-11-28T13:52:59.807-08:00The Spaces Wherein We LieLying here in bed<br />
surfing the World Wide Web,<br />
luxuriating in the warmth<br />
emanating from the hearth<br />
in the corner of the bedroom,<br />
listening to the rain<br />
tap-dancing on the roof<br />
beyond the coffered ceiling,<br />
<br />
I think of mother,<br />
who couldn't live<br />
with us and had to move<br />
into a downstair apartment,<br />
cramped between noisy neighbors.<br />
She wouldn't hear the rain.<br />
<br />
I think of father,<br />
who long ago had staked his claim<br />
on a few square feet of earth<br />
at Mountain View Cemetery.<br />
He wouldn't hear this rain<br />
falling softly on lush grass.<br />
If by chance he does,<br />
he would mistake it<br />
for the sprinklers deployed daily<br />
to keep the grass green.<br />
<br />
I lie here<br />
listening to the rain,<br />
wishing it lasts<br />
forever.<br />
<br />
<br />Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-49295819744103815492012-09-29T18:08:00.000-07:002012-10-02T17:20:40.921-07:00Hmong Americans<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The falling</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>dew</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>drop</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>suspended</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>between</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>leaf</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>and</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>a</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>p</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>P</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>r</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>o</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>a</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>c</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>h</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>i</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>n</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>g</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>g r o u n d</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i></i> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i></i> </div>
<i></i><br />
<i><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</i><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<i></i><br />Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-29347622413739994382012-08-02T17:25:00.001-07:002012-08-02T17:26:46.943-07:00A Poppy on the Mountainside / Lub Paaj Yeeb Nyob Ntwawm Ib Ntaa Roob<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this brilliant heat,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
under this cobalt sky,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I stop my climb</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to admire you--</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
a lone yellow poppy</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
clinging to the crags,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
braving the rough winds.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I cradle your soft petals</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in my right palm,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
kneel down to smell</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
your wild perfume,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and regretfully release</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
you back to the wind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For to pluck you now</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and bring you along</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
on this steep climb</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
would be your demise</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and my death.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> ~~~~~</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nyob lub teb kub,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
huv qaab lub ntuj ntsuab,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kuv ntseg ib plag</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
lug saib koj--</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
kws yog ib lub paaj yeeb</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
dlai ntawm lub tsaag zeb,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
naj nub raug cua nplawm.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kuv tuav koj cov nplooj</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
ntawm kuv xib teg,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
txhus caug lug na</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
koj cov paa tsw qaab,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
ces ro pluav</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
koj tsov moog rua cua nplawm.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Vim tas yog kuv dle koj</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
hab coj koj tsug kuv</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
nce plaag roob nuav</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=21941258" name="_GoBack"></a>yuav yog koj kev pluj</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
hab kuv kev tuag.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-12470356608003035192012-08-02T17:15:00.003-07:002012-08-05T00:09:46.848-07:00Snow Flowers<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i> ~for Max & the EQ</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We band of stripling warriors climb</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Through the redwood forest,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two-by-two,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Skirting flower-speckled meadows,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Crossing fern-lined streams,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Advancing though generations</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of Sequoias: from seedlings,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To saplings,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To full-growth,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All straight as arrows</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Aimed skyward,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Straining for the light.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We climb and climb</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Till we reach</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Watch Tower—</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A granite pinacle overlooking</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Creation’s panorama,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rising above a two-thousand-foot ravine </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Gouged by eons </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of snow and sun,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Water and wind.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the top, we see</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two snow-flower sprigs</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Standing like a pair of grounded spears</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Waiting for winter</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To unfurl their scarlet plumes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Against the white snow.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-43071539445643751292012-05-26T16:48:00.004-07:002012-08-02T17:27:24.633-07:00RECONVERSIONHe is living in limbo,<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
waiting</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for his parents to die.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But they never seem</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to be getting sick,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
much less dying.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So he goes to her</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and tells her: I love you</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
with my life</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and I will convert</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to become one </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
of your religion;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I will submerge</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and be reborn</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in your circle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She accepts him</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and they marry and go to live </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
with his family.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And each weekend</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
he takes her to join relatives</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in shaman ceremonies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She doesn’t like it,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
but he tells her:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What can I do?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am a dutiful son;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
we’ll just have to wait</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
till my parents die,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
then we can rejoin</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
the new</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Religion.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-51654651892617087142012-05-26T16:47:00.003-07:002012-08-02T17:27:39.716-07:00INTEGRATIONA Hmong boy,<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
born in the old country,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
transplanted to this new land,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
all he wanted to do</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
was run<br />
& play soccer,<br />
<br />
raise chickens</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
& organize cockfights,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
roam the woods<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
& hunt squirrels, swimming</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
& fishing<br />
in mountain lakes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But life was quickly passing him by:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>she</i> was beautiful </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and fading away.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She focused on school,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
went to college,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
got herself a career.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And if he wanted her </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to wait for him</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
then he had to catch up quickly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So he also went to college</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and pretended to care </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
for the liberal arts,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
experimented with the sciences,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and even tied a few metaphors</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
into complicated knots.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So she gave him a chance</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and they settled down</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to raise a family</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
that is not quite Hmong</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and not quite</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
American,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And in his heart</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
he still dreams</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
of the wild mountains.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-14499514818748426682012-01-24T18:06:00.000-08:002012-08-02T17:28:22.272-07:00METAMORPHOSIS<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style>(<i>printing a poem on the platen press</i>)<br />
<br />
I stand,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
facing the wooden trays,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
picking</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
letter by leaden
letter,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
molding them into</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
the word.</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
I arrange the words,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
side by side,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
into the line,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
encased in lead
blocks.</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
I build the lines,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
one by one,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
into the stanza,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
into the poem--</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
becoming alive</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
inside the <i>chase</i>,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
enclosed</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
by wooden</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
and leaden</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>furniture</i>,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
held fast</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
by <i>quoins</i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
and <i>key</i>.</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
I place the <i>chase</i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
into the cradle</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
of the <i>platen press</i>,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
apply the ink</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
onto the plate,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
that transfers</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
onto the rollers,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
onto the letters, the words, the lines,<br />
the poem.</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
The press rotates,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
the poem flies</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
onto paper,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
into minds,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
into air,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
becomes</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
ephemeral.</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
I take out the <i>chase</i>,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
insert the <i>key</i>,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
release the <i>quoins</i>,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
remove the <i>furniture</i>,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
return the lines,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
the words,</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
the letters</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
back into</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
the wooden boxes.</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Until the next time</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
when they’re needed</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
to be molded</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
into the new</div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
poem.<br />
<br /></div>Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-1368025589799013072011-12-01T17:14:00.001-08:002011-12-18T19:17:10.464-08:00The Last Sky<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-font-charset:78;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1791491579 18 0 131231 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-font-charset:78;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1791491579 18 0 131231 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Garamond;
panose-1:2 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 8 3;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Garamond;">The fall of Long Cheng (Sky Base), 1975</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">Twenty thousand </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">pairs of eyes </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">scan the sky </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">for signs </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">of lifeboats—C-130s</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">to rescue us</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">from our</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;"><i>Clear Valley</i>,<i> </i>our last fortress</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">that has become</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">our valley of deathtrap:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">enemy columns surround</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">the hills,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">enemy tanks blockade</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">the roads,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">slowly </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">moving in</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">to kill.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">Finally,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">three C-130s arrive </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">like a wing</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">of birds—three bright
eagles</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">landing, rolling </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">in a line </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">down the runway. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">The crowd parts</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">and reforms </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">like waves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">around a ship</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">at sea, scrambling</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">into </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">the cargo holds.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">Families </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">try </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">to stay </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">together,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">but wives</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">separated</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">from </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">husbands, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">children</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">from </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">grandparents.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">The cargo holds </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">quickly</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">filled, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">the ramps</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">start </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">to rise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">People fall</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">in clumps</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">to the hard</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">asphalt.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">An infantry</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">major grabs</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">his oldest</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">son,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">boosting</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">him</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">into the last gap</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">of the closing</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">ramp.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">The birds</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">turn,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">roll</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">down </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">the runway</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">of Sky Base</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">for the last</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">time,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">lift,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">and lumber</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">into </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">the last</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">Sky.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-75904079252202010622011-11-20T23:31:00.001-08:002011-11-24T00:58:05.108-08:00The Good Sister<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:1;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh how good she was </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
with other people’s children. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She taught kindergarten; </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and year after year, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hmong parents brought her </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
their hesitant children </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to be introduced </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
into the American system. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She taught them in Hmong </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and English, even some<br />
Spanish, easing them </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
into the complex world.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She started out young, married </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to her widowed brother-in-law, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
when her sister died </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
from a botched operation. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her nieces and nephews </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
became her sons and daughters. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But her husband eloped </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
with some closely related woman. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And she was left </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
with an empty house </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and a roomful of children </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
in her kindergarten.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Word of mouth spread </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
of the good teacher. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And year after year, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
we crossed school boundaries, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
lied about our incomes </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
so we could bring our children </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to this good sister </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
to ease into a new life. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Years after our children had moved<br />
into the upper grades, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
we would hear from her, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
when some other parent passed </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
a hello from the teacher: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
she wanted us to know </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
she was doing well, had found a man </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
who loved her, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and was married.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then we heard she was ill, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
dying from cancer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We planned to go see her</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
but never had the time. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And when she died,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
we said: Oh how good she was </div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">with our children.</span><br />
<br />
<br />Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-92226091572791079032011-11-20T23:08:00.001-08:002011-11-30T12:51:39.786-08:00Love & War<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> <span style="font-size: small;">Long Cheng, 1972</span></i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
Midnight,
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The general paces</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The corridors</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of his Motel 6-</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like compound,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Waiting to see</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which wife’s door</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Would open,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which hilltop</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Would erupt</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So he can scramble </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Ravens,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Call for the Sabres,<br />
Send in<br />
The Chinooks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br /></div>Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-63945592175347264002011-11-11T23:53:00.001-08:002013-08-02T08:02:20.039-07:00To Live Here<div style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">
<br />
<span style="text-align: center;">1. </span><i style="text-align: center;">Oakland, California</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
To live here <br />
Among these skyrises
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
& screeching cars,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These crowded lanes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
& sculpted parks,<br />
<br />
You must take air,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And taking air commits you <br />
To sharing it:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
With the Korean woman</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
& her Sikh boyfriend</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Enjoying a profusion of dishes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At Jonga House;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the African-American man</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
& his Chinese wife</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Walking protectively around her parents</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Along Grand Avenue;<br />
<br />
With the bi-racial girl<br />
& her polyethnic friends <br />
Offering you their<br />
Unneeded bus transfers;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the ducks<br />
& the geese<br />
Floating gently in a line<br />
Across Lake Merritt;</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the sturgeons<br />
& the stripers <br />
Living in dark waters under the fishing pier</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jutting from the embarcadero<br />
<br />
On which is attached a sign</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Warning of health risks</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In six foreign<br />
Languages.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
2. <i>Fresno, California</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
To live here<br />
Among these shrinking fields<br />
& expanding strip malls,<br />
These disappearing farms<br />
& blossoming track houses,<br />
<br />
I must take air,<br />
And taking air commits me<br />
To sharing it:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the Latino immigrant sellings roses<br />
& the homeless veteran panhandling<br />
At the same Blackstone street corner,<br />
Each hoping for just one more dallar.<br />
<br />
With Mr. Pedraza<br />
& his Hmong and Mexican students<br />
trying to build<br />
a better Sunnyside High School,<br />
a better Fresno, <br />
a better world.<br />
<br />
With my African American,<br />
White, Latino, Middle -Eastern<br />
& Asian students at Fresno City College,<br />
writing alone<br />
and writing together<br />
to better our futures.<br />
<br />
With Renaldo,<br />
& Pos,<br />
& Andre,<br />
& all you good folks<br />
who have come here tonight<br />
to share<br />
this poetic air.<br />
<br />
Thank you!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“To live here one must take air, but taking air commits you to sharing it…”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
~ Robert Bly</div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-31657591732399460902011-11-06T09:47:00.000-08:002011-11-18T09:04:21.881-08:00Late August Day at Mauna Kea Beach<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;
mso-font-charset:128;
mso-generic-font-family:roman;
mso-font-format:other;
mso-font-pitch:fixed;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>(prose form)</i> <br />
<br />
Perfect morning: sugary sand, sparse crowd, warm sun.<br />
<br />
In
afternoon, grow restless, leave the wife slumbering, take the trail at the southern end, across
rugged headland of sharp volcanic lava. Meet two old men carefully negotiating
trail, one who obviously had suffered a stroke--right leg stiff, right hand clutches
close to chest. Make way for them, and ask how far still to go. “You’re about
half way there,” they say.<br />
<br />
Farther, come across a site of old native settlement:
house foundations, stone rings for cooking. Encroaching, just yards up the
slope, villas with red-tile roofs and horizontal pools--the kind that blends
with sea and sky when one looks from the porch.<br />
<br />
In the little rocky inlets, sea
turtles glide, almost flying, in their element, elemental; their cold-blooded
bodies cradled in the currents of the warm blue sea. They worry not about lost civilizations, current
occupations, the end of worlds. They are living.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
<i>(poetry form)</i><br />
<br />
Perfect morning:<br />
sugary sand, sparse crowd, warm sun.<br />
<br />
In
afternoon, grow restless, leave the wife<br />
slumbering, take the trail at southern end,<br />
across
rugged headland of sharp volcanic lava.<br />
<br />
Meet two old men carefully negotiating
trail,<br />
one who obviously had suffered a stroke--<br />
right leg stiff, right hand clutches
close to chest.<br />
Make way for them, and ask how far still to go.<br />
“You’re about
half way there,” they say.<br />
<br />
Farther, come across a site of old native settlement:<br />
house foundations, stone rings for cooking. Encroaching,<br />
just yards up the
slope, villas with red-tile roofs<br />
and horizontal pools--the kind that blends
with sea and sky<br />
when one looks from the porch.<br />
<br />
In the little rocky inlets, sea
turtles glide, almost flying,<br />
in their element, elemental; their cold-blooded
bodies cradled<br />
in the currents of the warm blue sea. They worry not<br />
about lost civilizations,<br />
current
occupations,<br />
the end of worlds.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
~after Robert Bly</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-52021090103164173402011-10-30T21:34:00.001-07:002011-11-15T19:38:05.544-08:00Seeing My Old Teacher Again After Many Years<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-font-charset:78;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-font-charset:78;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-unhide:no;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
mso-default-props:yes;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"MS 明朝";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
-->
</style>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>~for Dr. Zumwalt</i><br />
<br />
I did not know that my way out of that canyon would be
filled with so many twists and turns. So I left him standing there at the end
of his gravel drive and drove away with a light heart, promising I would
soon return to spend another day helping him at his press: setting types and printing
pages painstakingly the old-fashioned way, sharing a simple lunch of soup
simmering in the crockpot, reminiscing about his experience as a young pilot in the
waning days of World War II in Italy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I drove out of the canyon on a road that wounded along
river bottoms, through foothills covered in dry scrub oaks and brittle pines, across a little
stone bridge arching over a clear stream…and never returned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, after these many years, he has come all the way from
his home in the Sierra Nevada foothills to hear me read my poetry. “He heard you would be
reading. He wanted to come and see you,” his wife says. I look at my old
teacher: His proud yellow mane turned patchy white, shoulders more stooped, a
little bit hard of hearing. But the gleam in his eyes and his gap-toothed smile are still the same--laughing at himself and at the world, as if he has already found most of the
secrets of life, and finds them amusing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I have thought about you,” he chides me.</div>
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">“And I have thought about you,” I reply.</span><br />
<br />
<br />Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21941258.post-5193738028024095322011-10-27T09:05:00.000-07:002014-04-17T21:47:01.587-07:00Visiting My Uncle in the Sierra Nevada Foothills<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Garamond;
panose-1:2 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 8 3;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-pitch:variable;
mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{mso-style-parent:"";
margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria;
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;
mso-header-margin:.5in;
mso-footer-margin:.5in;
mso-paper-source:0;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
</style>
-->
<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">Here, in these misty folds of hills, you have rested</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;"> for these
fifteen years. How lonely it must be</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">to be so out of the way. Your sons and daughters</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">have all moved away, and only visit every few
years</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">when there’s another
funeral in town. The road here </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">twists and turns, and it’s
a wonder I still remember </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">the way to this hidden place. This year, your last brother</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">have passed through, so you four brothers</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">must be together and are ready to move on, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">so I'll say my last goodbye.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">There is not a sound, not a sight of a living
thing,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Garamond;">except for a scrub jay pointing me on my way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Garamond;">~after Du Fu</span></i><br />
<br /></div>
Soul Vanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16928576390715102282noreply@blogger.com1