một đêm hà nội

gần tám tháng sau,
tôi vẫn nhớ hà nội

một đêm mát mẻ,
đi ngắm cảnh hồ gươm
lái xe máy vòng quanh phố cổ
hình ảnh này chỉ còn là ký ức

trên thực tế tôi rời môi sinh này lâu rồi
tôi mong một ngày trở lại quê hương!

trần.qúy.hạc

minnesooota.

congrats to my uncle huy; he’s the new director of Save the Children Vietnam. his family will be moving to ha noi mid-july. the thought of them moving to viet nam excites me profoundly. just last year, i had the opportunity to live and study in viet nam’s capitol for close to five months. i experienced wonders, and i know they will too. what is even more exciting is that my cousins will be speaking vietnamese next time i see them.

just north.

Milwaukee, the city my mother called home after arriving to the States fleeing communist Viet Nam in 1975. I frequented this location thousand times throughout my existence, but within recent years, I have been absent. Aboard the Megabus–$8.50 ticket mind you–I sat listening to Vietnamese tunes, trying to reacquaint myself with my culture. Soft lyrics and soothing beats, I entered a deep slumber. Two hours later, awaken by the sudden stop, I stumbled off. My cousin Viet, in a VW Pasat, sit comfortably across the street. “Shotgun, no blitz” unnecessary to be mentioned for it were only us two.

nostalgia.

saturday evening, i lay on my back atop sea green patches encompassing a city park, soaking in the magnificent sounds of gospel, gazing into oblivion; i feel nostalgic.

on this midsummer day, dwellers of big city number three congregated, connecting in a realm advocating individuality, self. community finally visible, interaction.

blue grey skies linger above, humid warmth tightly hugs my body, flames blistering fibrous meats street side. motorbikes missing, otherwise equivalent.

such sights and sounds flood in memories of recent past. old quarter, swarmed of unhesitating burgesses, autumn airs remain musky, pho hue, ba trieu; doner kebaps, pho cuon dominate.

a friend who shared with me Viet Nam, sits beside. does he recognize these parallels? my curiosity authors en-puzzlement, wonder. shared elements, yet distinctiveness between the two.

twenty one north, one o five east, Ha Noi. here, me. unabbreviated, sheer nostalgia.