A poem about returning to Saigon during Vietnamese new year
Same eyes, different view I so much want to look like I belong to you
In your Vietnamese eyes do I have a similar face
Are our bodies identified as same by a visual ‘race’
But behind my eyes is a white puzzled gaze
Built from a white upbringing and western ways
And Vietnamese language, I don’t know
I wasn’t even aware that pho doesn’t rhyme with go
But I’ve come home to find a sense of family that I feel I’ve lost
And I cling to this hope through much emotional struggle and cost
I’m visiting Vietnam for Tet and don’t know if I belong
So many cultural misunderstandings make me feel wrong
An orphan with no family relying on strangers to be kind
I fear I don’t really know what or who I want to find
I’ve returned to Saigon, part excitement and part fear
Chuc Mung Nam Moi or Happy New Year!
April, 2003