Ho Chi Minh City

Beef butcher for the Vietnamese,

Coffee Maker, Stacker of Nón Lá,

Player with Motorbikes and the Country's Stunning Traffic;

Windy, stormy, baking,

City of the South China Sea:

They whisper to me that you are blazing and I trust them, for I

have seen them students and teachers under the shed

dripping salty sweat from their foreheads.

And they whisper to me that you are a tornado and I reply: Yes, it

is true I have seen the umbrellas pulling humans and flip over to

pull again.

And they whisper to me that you are bustling and my reply is: On the

streets of District One I have seen the skid-marks

of rapid driving.

And having replied so I spin to those who

scorn at this foreign city, and I return them the scorn

and say to them:

Come and show me another city with rising beef aroma,

so pleased to be international, fruity, unpredictable and talented.

Weaving threads with needles making cloth

on cloth, here is a white áo dài specially made for the

striking Vietnamese women;

Hardworking as a bee flying around for honey, creative

as a cobbler making slippers, sandals and shoes,

Diverse,

Buying,

Cutting,

Digging,

Building, building, and building.

Nón Lá

áo dài

A Vietnamese woman wearing a white áo dài with a nón lá on top of her head

Updated

Book

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

Movie

This Is It

And guess what?

Only 12 days till New Moon!

Aren't you excited?!

And Eclipse's poster

30 June 2010