--- M I E N   D A N G

I know the bud will bloom
Perhaps into a girlish pink
Or the color of a salamander
Or the color of a hairy worm
Grinding a thousand leaves
To steal for itself a green color 
 
How does one know that someone is longing to look at a green flower? 

Perhaps the blossom will not be whole
Missing a broken angel wing
The flower also has no perfume
But I'm longing for something else entirely
   
And he doesn't have a penis
Twisting towards me on a VERY HUMAN foot
And I also don't have a vagina
We make love with our mouths
With tongues sucking
To increase our pleasures
We clang our teeth
God has given mankind so many marvelous sensations!
If there really is an actual nervous system
We'd knock each other down to make love
Damn those illusions! 

I know the bud will bloom into a mottled flower
With fake angel wings
But I solemnly wait for something else entirely

And he doesn't have a penis
Circling me on a VERY HUMAN foot
 

                            Dec 5, 2001



translated from the Vietnamese by Linh Dinh