Childhood Poem by VO THI NHU MAI

my fingers still remember the sour taste of tamarind leaves
grasped in laughter beneath the forgiving shade

green stalks part, tiny leaps vanish into the sunlit field
she runs breathlessly, clutching a jar full of joy
grasshopper hunt is filled with laughter and little dreams

the roads drowned but we floated through them
we cut banana trunks and made a little raft
the flood of hunger, the childhood joy lasting forever