observations
Below are a series of observations made in the past few days here in Sai Gon.
A woman carries around an infant
hours before dawn even breaks,
the child may not even be hers,
perhaps borrowed or rented,
she sells gum to tourists.
Children lay asleep on the sidewalk
covered in pieces of tattered cloth for warmth,
one takes a break from her nightmarish work
and joins her sibling on the tarped pavement.
A prostitute covered in layers of make-up
asks for a light.
She smiles after her cigarette is well and lit
while waiting for the balding western men to return.
A child of not even ten sits
outside a night time eatery
selling chewing gum to patrons.
She is frail like a skeleton.
Young girls all about town sell roses
in front of the church,
at the bars,
at the art exhibition.
All at night.
Hao,
I would call your good observations “expanded awareness”. Your Little Self is aware of your Bigger Self, which is Life Itself. You are aware of the world outside of yourself when you can feel it inside yourself, because we are really all One.
Dad
Dad
December 31, 2006 at 11:39 am
good observations of Viet Nam.
quyhac
January 2, 2007 at 4:08 am
Awww, your dad gave you a really meaningful comment. I do believe that “We are really all one too”. Very nice observation Hao, and your mind is very artistic for putting it together as a poem like this.
What I thought was most interesting is the paragraph about the prostitute, “she asks for a light” and I thought it was somekind of abstract saying that she wanted guidance or a new beginning, but it turned out to be a light for her cigarette. So that part I thought was really creative.
Back to your dad’s comment about building more awareness as we grow or mature. I’ve also learned this over the break. People go through 5 stages of life. When you’re little, you think of yourself only, little bit older – you think of your family, older – think of the community, much older – think of your country, and wayyyy older – you think of the world.
I think this trip probably have made you realized a lot of stuff. I can see that your Viet is getting better too. I hope that you will continue keeping in touch with Vietnam.
Anh
Anh
February 14, 2007 at 4:25 am