Lunar New Year Poem by VO THI NHU MAI

when will you be home, mother questioned
not needing an answer, she thought
she just liked the sound of promise over the phone

moss yields to paint, cracks soften under my hands
the old house learns to cheer up for lunar new year

before the fire, father ties memories into the leaves
steam rising from the rice cake gathers everything we are

we pass dishes and stories on the thirtieth night
the sacred meal leaves a complicated year behind

incense smoke curls upward to weave stories
we bow to remember the soil bringing us to earth