LIBERATION TIME: film and poem by Cindy A. Nguyen:

LIBERATION TIME

Chapter 1

What year did that happen?
Before liberation. / Trước khi giải phóng
When did you go to school?
Before liberation.

When did you become a farmer?
After liberation.
When did you meet dad?
After liberation.

When did you want to leave?
After liberation.
And when was I born?
After liberation. / Sau khi giải phóng

What is liberation?

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LIBERATION TIME

Chapter 2

Liberation was a time.
It was a demarcation
of what came before
and what came after.

Liberation was a place.
where everyone was invited
and forever remained guests.
Awaiting an alternative future.

Liberation was a friend.
a neighbor, a brother
a believer, a dreamer
familiar, familial, filial.

Liberation was a sound
repeated, whispered echoes
to cleanse and empty
the evils of the past,
the errors of the past
the past, the past, the past.
Ngày xưa, ngày xưa, ngày xưa.

Hanoi, 2017