As I begin to melt in the heat of Saigon
I decide to buy an ice coffee
The vendor smiles at me
Full of gratitude
As she hands me the plastic cup
Full of ice,
And something that resembles coffee,
And something that resembles “thank you”,
And something that resembles “my kinds will eat tonight”
My coffee costs 50 cents
My lunch was about a dollar
I sit on a plastic chair
And a man starts to shout
“Look! Look!”
He bends down and points at my shoe,
A whole gaping at its front
He points at my shoe and sticks his finger in it
The whole grows bigger
“Glue!”
He shouts
As he continues to poke at my shoe
And takes out his glue
And goes to fix it
I pull my foot away
I’m annoyed
He broke my shoe
He didn’t break it but he made it worse
All the same
And now he wants to sell his glue
Not even the whole glue
Just enough for the shoe
He wants to rip me off
He continues to chase me
Bent in half
Finger stubborn in the gap at my toe
As I try to shake him off
I run away disgusted
How dare he
Disturb my peace
My coffee
To get a few cents
I have no money
I travel
I study
I am poor
But I will go watch the opera tonight
And wonder
What a life it must be
To bow down at someone’s feet
Just to get a few cents
I decide to buy an ice coffee
The vendor smiles at me
Full of gratitude
As she hands me the plastic cup
Full of ice,
And something that resembles coffee,
And something that resembles “thank you”,
And something that resembles “my kinds will eat tonight”
My coffee costs 50 cents
My lunch was about a dollar
I sit on a plastic chair
And a man starts to shout
“Look! Look!”
He bends down and points at my shoe,
A whole gaping at its front
He points at my shoe and sticks his finger in it
The whole grows bigger
“Glue!”
He shouts
As he continues to poke at my shoe
And takes out his glue
And goes to fix it
I pull my foot away
I’m annoyed
He broke my shoe
He didn’t break it but he made it worse
All the same
And now he wants to sell his glue
Not even the whole glue
Just enough for the shoe
He wants to rip me off
He continues to chase me
Bent in half
Finger stubborn in the gap at my toe
As I try to shake him off
I run away disgusted
How dare he
Disturb my peace
My coffee
To get a few cents
I have no money
I travel
I study
I am poor
But I will go watch the opera tonight
And wonder
What a life it must be
To bow down at someone’s feet
Just to get a few cents