I buried my father in the great light,
the corroded pink, burning the eye to see,
launched him into dream commons, particularity,
a new matter of time, him & his apologies.
I buried our father under the great terebinth where
we ploughed up the moss shine one last time &
mother’s face was made newly easy, sloughed
of all last trace of girlhood.
And the earth reseeds.
Nam Le’s first book, The Boat, was selected as a New York Times Notable Book and Editor’s Choice, the #1 fiction book of 2008 by The Oregonian, and the best debut of 2008 by New York Magazine. His collection 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem is forthcoming.