You Must Not Tell Anyone,' My Mother

You Must Not Tell Anyone,' My Mother Said, 'what I Am About To Tell You.'

There's Something In Life That's A Curtain, And I Keep Trying To Raise It.

Do The Right Thing By Whoever Crosses Your Path. Those Coincidental People Are Your People.

I Learned To Make My Mind Large, As The Universe Is Large, So That There Is Room For Paradoxes. Petals Are Bone Marrow; Pearls Come From Oysters. The Dragon Lives In The Sky, Ocean, Marshes, And Mountains; And The Mountains Are Also Its Cranium. Its Voice Thunders And Jingles Like Copper Pans. It Breathes Fire And Water; And Sometimes The Dragon Is One, Sometimes Many.

Reading Ngo Tu Lap's Poems, Terrible Nostalgia Wells Up In Me- Nostalgia For A Lost Time And A Far-gone Country, Nostalgia For People I've Loved, And For Creatures Of Forests And Rivers. I Feel Gratitude Too. War Is Over. Peace Arrives With These Beautiful Poems.