May 2026

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 (short poems from my note app, May of 2026. They're distinct from the long poems I've posted on the blog. Too lazy to make them longer.)

1) no?
I swore I would never be like him
Yet here I am, walking the stairs to the top floor
To the altar of my ancestors 
And I'm furious 
when our offerings are out of place
and im chanting to the death who don't even know my face
neither do i want theirs
Breathing in that stuffy air. 
I swore I would never speak like him
Yet sitting on the couch with my sister, ice cream bowls on our laps
I'm talking about how hard our parents worked for this
How she has to try her best
How she has it so easy
How much better their lives would have been if it wasn't for us. 
It's the same cadence the same words the same face
I swear I never wanted it to turn out this way. 
Could have skipped that supper and stand up from the dining table
Could have said it to his face that our parents choose this life not us
Could have let him know that i have a mouth now
But in the end, I still carry his smile.

2) a hospital down the street

The ceiling's always closer when you're floating in the hospital

Hooked onto the IV. 

Your mother cries, to the return of the residents

The monitor is stopping, your father won't be arriving. 

Down the hall, a fetus just breathed it first breath

Up the block, an old woman crosses life

A dog is chasing its owner

and someone's staring love in the eyes. 


A leaf falls from a too-dry branch

A new daffodil blooms.


3) nhớ em

Mặt trăng yêu dấu của tôi ơi

Em đã đi đâu chơi mất rồi

Trên đỉnh đầu là đêm vắng lặng

Dưới tay mình lạnh mặt nước lăn tăn. 


Có những ngày xanh ta đánh mất

Trên đường về, vương rơi tuổi trẻ vụng về.

Lại có lời nào ta không dám nói

Chữ hằn trên giấy lại vứt đi

Cũng là một buổi thanh xuân

Ta lãng phí...


4)

all i've ever known is how to be envious

how to press myself down and force it to bounce back just to land it the same place

because if i'm not the best then i am nothing at all

because that means i won't be worthy of life if i can't make anything out of it

this life is a court room of my mine

in front of my mirror at dusk I'm always found guilty. 
*****
Last edit: July 17th, 2025

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