Saigon*

The bristling city
With far too many wounds
Restless, heaving with possibilities
The wars have come in the air, on water, a-burrowing
They've left you unsentimental, hardy
No halo of illusions around 
the fading moon

Loud beats play in your bosom
Pistons in motion, hot and energetic 
Muffling memory
Sending memory back, deep into cells
For moments that become less fleeting
As time stumbles on

Bees abound; 'being' takes a back seat
To constant whirring
In the bastion of movement, of production
So many ply the streets 
Love and friendship in the noodles, raincoats, mini water-puppets 
Red stars on yellow cloth
How to buy time, how to grab fragments from the fire

So many trees lean in: along streets; by small craters 
Near the ancient temples; by memorials

Traces of dioxin, powdering the armpits
Landmines that still fester beneath skin
Human feeling, floating eyes, pedalling limbs, incense smoke
Like ripples, like water
Water under bombed bridges

*HoChiMin City