Unrelated Future Tense
with me being a bastard
and Saigon tea will ask about my language
people will ask about bar girls
even without food in the poems
they will smell fish sauce and pho
ask about 'the war' which is to say
about men fathers and soldiers
about white Americans what
about them
about them
about white Americans what
about men fathers and soldiers
ask about 'the war' which is to say
they will smell fish sauce and pho
even without food in the poems
people will ask about bar girls
and Saigon tea will ask about my language
with me being a bastard
__________________________
Hoa Nguyen
A Thousand Times You Lose Your Treasure
Wave Books, 2021
photo ~
1956, Vinh Long province. On the back of the original photograph, for the apparent purpose of giving it to someone unnamed, it says in her handwriting as follows:
“This is a glorious time, in 1956.
In those days I was a flying motorist artist—
this is the sole memory of my life.
For my friend, to keep as a memory…
The flying motorist artist”
Her Vietnamese name was Nguyễn Anh Diệp (April 21, 1941 – June 9, 2019). When she left Vietnam for North America in 1968, she became Linda Diep Lijewski. She does not leave the photo for the friend but takes it with her.
