Red Petals Poem by VO THI NHU MAI

June arrives quietly
a soft wind carrying the red petals
they fall like a flame of time lit by cicadas
onto the bright schoolyard

Chalk dust drifts in the calmness of noon
benches warm with students' laughter
A swing creaking like a distant song
the past still plays in scattered light

We were children of hunger and hope
sharing sweet potatoes and stories
Red petals falling with our final steps
summer closes the book of our school dreams

Time flies fast and fades away
white lilies grow beneath old trees
morning hides inside the red evening
space and memories calling towards June

Still, the red petals falling every summer
and some hearts stay young forever