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Ocean Vuong - Kissing in Vietnamese...
I wake up to the sound of the devil
laughing and hurling death to the
corners of my room. I scream for my family.
I’m forced to observe normalcy
through a fractured pane that used
to be a window. My grandmother
reaches out from the world of torment,
her arms bleeding, her heart broken.
I long for the comfort of old when her
embrace eased my pain which she
absorbed to herself. A bubble formed
protecting me from the violence and
horrors of dying cries and limbs in trees,
from the smell of napalm and burning flesh.
My mind sees the mayhem and carnage
but my heart, though bleeding, feels her
touch and brings me back to that feeling of love.
laughing and hurling death to the
corners of my room. I scream for my family.
I’m forced to observe normalcy
through a fractured pane that used
to be a window. My grandmother
reaches out from the world of torment,
her arms bleeding, her heart broken.
I long for the comfort of old when her
embrace eased my pain which she
absorbed to herself. A bubble formed
protecting me from the violence and
horrors of dying cries and limbs in trees,
from the smell of napalm and burning flesh.
My mind sees the mayhem and carnage
but my heart, though bleeding, feels her
touch and brings me back to that feeling of love.
Published 2nd Aug 2020
| Edited 8th Aug 2020
Author's Note
Interpretation of Ocean Vuong’s. Kissing in Vietnamese
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The author encourages honest critique.
2nd Aug 2020 2:56am
2nd Aug 2020 3:54am
Dear A,
I think there is an unparalleled love between a grandmother/grandchild. In reading Ocean Vuong’s Kissing in Vietnamese and your piece there is a gravitational draw of this love through some very intense extreme’s. I am completely done in by these emotions and commend your write and its excellence. H🌷
I think there is an unparalleled love between a grandmother/grandchild. In reading Ocean Vuong’s Kissing in Vietnamese and your piece there is a gravitational draw of this love through some very intense extreme’s. I am completely done in by these emotions and commend your write and its excellence. H🌷
2nd Aug 2020 10:12am
I never knew of him until this contest. I was blown away. As an ex usaf pilot during the Vietnam era I was particularly moved. Loved having you moved as well.💕🌹🌹
2nd Aug 2020 9:59pm
His inspirational poem is one of my all-time favorites of his because I relate so well with my own grandchild ( aka g'precious ). I'll piggyback on Honoria's statement about the unparalleled love between a grandmother and her grandchild, because it's the truth. I tell parents all the time, if you think you love your child, wait until you hold your child's child. My heart aches for those children who have nor will ever know the love of a grandparent. And my heart aches for those grandparents who are separated by distance from their grandchildren.
That being said, this is a lovely interpretation of the essence of Vuong's poem. Thank you for supporting the classics, and best of luck in the judging.
That being said, this is a lovely interpretation of the essence of Vuong's poem. Thank you for supporting the classics, and best of luck in the judging.
2nd Aug 2020 10:48pm
I feel Oceans pain as a ex usaf pilot. .That war was a waste, of my friends, the best and brightest of our young men and women, not mention Oceans people. I feel the pain in his work. I envy students at Amherst. Thanks A. 💕
