From America with Love
(Written for my Papa San on The Wall)
There are many sleepless nights
Not because of routine life struggles,
But because the poet inside me is stuck:
The horrible image of a very young girl in burka
She sacrifices her precious body and soul
Oh sweet heart, you are a daughter or a niece I never had
I may not speak Arabic,
But I can express myself in the language of love.
We, in the end, are one race of humanity
Who in his right mind would have poisoned your spirit?
You are too little to be a warrior,
You are too precious a flower to be trashed
Your soul is too pure to be soiled
My dear beautiful fellow citizen of the world:
If you were brainwashed with a religious reward,
Hoping to go to a heaven to which you are promised
My dear, pretend that I myself have a spot up there
I wholeheartedly want you to have it as any parent would.
I offer you my soul, please take it,
Within it is a realm of love and gratitude
For the country, that is second to none,
In the spirit of charity and generosity.
It’s a melting pot -- E Pluribus Unum --
‘Cause America is made of immigrants
From every corner on the planet Earth
Your fellow nationals are Americans
Who work hard to send your homeland their support
They go to mosques, praying just like you.
I shed tears of sorrow for your being taught to hate your own race,
Killing Americans means killing your own people
How could it be that you are rewarded a place in heaven?
Oh, our man-made religions, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists!
We wouldn’t use God for our mundane interests;
Even a lion would die for his cub,
Our heavenly Father/Allah wouldn’t be pleased
By letting you commit suicide-bombing
Just consider me as a father you never had
Consider that I yield my spot in heaven for you,
There, the sweet notes of Chopin's "Fantasies impromptu..."
Linh Duy Vo (a blessed Stanford Dad)
Veterans Day, 11.11.2009©
© Copyright by Linh Duy Vo. All rights reserved.
