“Odes to my birth” by WITS Student Quynh Nguyen
April 6, 2022
Three… two… one…
just one more second,
only one more for a present.
Ever wonder about life and death?
Love and birth;
all rise up toward a newborn.
A tear slightly drops down from sky:
the sky of all lovings;
universes, stars, galaxy,
space and shadow of emotions.
If I were a tiny piece of sand
in an extreme desert,
you would be my life!
my sun, my moon, my candles
my water, my map.
You are like Devendra Banhart,
you add color,
images and then rhythm to my journey.
Humm… who knows how my life is
(How it is once missing you)
Days to days in darkness,
dryness, lost, and lifeless.
Three… two… one…
just one more second,
close this book and open again.
In no doubt,
a Vietnamese girl did come to this Earth!
Quynh Nguyen wrote this poem while a student at Evergreen High School with WITS Writer-in-Residence Jay Thompson. Quynh read the poem to open our Poetry Series event with Don Mee Choi on April 7, 2022.