36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem

Short story writer Le (The Boat) turns to poetry, offering a collection of intricately crafted, evocative works. Themes are varied, and Le doesn’t shy away from hot-button issues such as immigration, identity, and racism (“the girls, Hello-Kitty’ed, / yellow-faced, extolled for almond eyes and / white-adjacent skin”). In “Matri-immigral,” Le explores the experiences of Vietnamese immigrants, often relegated to subservient, unseen roles: “My mother wipes your mother’s mouth, /…/ My mother wipes your children’s bums, /…/ My mother paints and strips your nails.” “Violence: Patri-confessional” finds the author at the burial of a father: “A new matter of time, him & his apologies.” Unfortunately, while the topics Le traverses are powerful—devastating in their rawness and simplicity—listeners might struggle to follow along. Le employs a range of creative poetic forms and devices, but these become muddled in audio, even with the author’s narration lending a personal touch. While the audio version has a print supplement, listeners will probably find that Le’s work is best experienced on the page.