Deep in a forest
in the Northernmost
part of Vietnam,
in a Vietcong
reeducation camp,
my father watched
to see if the
chili peppers
would spin
in the clear water.
If the peppers
were still,
then the water
was not poisonous.
Father said
the best way
to get water
was to cut
a bamboo tree
or a banana
tree
with a knife.
The water
in the heart
is pure.
Mother
When I hug
my mother,
she feels so fragile
as if she would
fall apart like petals
in my arms,
but I know she is much
stronger than I am -
silk that keeps me
cool in the summer
and warm in the winter.
The soft and gentle
thread of worms,
tougher than metal.
Praying at the Cemetery on Con Son Island
Endless gravestones
unnamed
a yellow star on each stone
lights the night
I try not to breathe in spirits
but I breathe in
the smoke of incense.
A bat flutters by
A green grasshopper lands by my foot
Someone is saying hello
Perhaps it is a girl who died in a Tiger Cage
There are not enough
incense sticks for all
of the graves on Con Son Island.
Hear the audio of these poems .
Teresa Mei Chuc is the author of two full-length collections of poetry, Red Thread (Fithian Press, 2012) and Keeper of the Winds (FootHills Publishing, 2014). She was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and immigrated to the U.S. under political asylum with her mother and brother shortly after the Vietnam War while her father remained in a Vietcong “reeducation” camp for nine years. Her poetry has appeared in journals such as EarthSpeak Magazine, The Good Men Project, Hawai’i Pacific Review, Hypothetical Review, Kyoto Journal, The Prose-Poem Project, The National Poetry Review, Rattle, Verse Daily, Whitefish Review, as well as in several anthologies, including the forthcoming Inheriting the War: Poetry and Prose by Descendants of Vietnam Veterans and Refugees. Teresa’s new collection of poetry, Song of Bones, will be released by Many Voices Press in 2016.
