The Corner of Nguyen Binh Khiem and Tue Tinh

by

Chuong-Dai Vo

A creaking

a dog barks

another

the turning

of a lock

the screeching of a

heavy metal gate

neighbors sweeping

The maid moves

the furniture around

hand wipes the tiled floor

opens the curtains

and sunlight rushes through the glass doors

I stand on the balcony watching

the morning market unfold

store fronts open

I shower and dress

stand

on the

balcony

watching

Down a small alley and out through a wooden door

Xe om motor- street vendors

motorcycletaxidrivers bun rieu chao pho banh cuon

the old men in pajamas the young assistants from the herbal medicine clinic

schoolchildren with red handkerchiefs the usual breakfast

crowd the tailor whose wife brags about having expat customers

women hidden under conical hats and long-sleeve, oversized shirts to avoid getting dark the

mark of manual labor even though it’s so humid

you can’t peel the air off you

who walk for miles from the countryside into Ha Noi over the worn Chuong Duong Bridge

with bamboo shoulder poles and flat baskets full of fruits and vegetables and butchered meat

vats of steaming broth and freshly made rice noodles and mint and beansprouts

sit on the streets from dawn to dusk on plastic stools hawking their goods

cross street

for a café

motorbike

dustmotorbike

motorbike motorbike

dragonfruitgreen oranges giant tree roots

water lilies broken pavement

face masks breakfast stalls

nylon driving gloves red and blue

lottery ticket?

cuts of pork miniature plastic

lottery ticket? chairs tables

step market vendors

step on the street cover the sidewalks

Nokia phone shop motorbike

step on the sidewalk

convenience store

General Hospital lottery ticket?

muddy gravel, rainwater

slip

cut my knee on the broken

curb

pieces of pavement

angling into each other

spreading blood through denim

I stand up trying to walk away

as though nothing happened

It’s toomuch voicessounds cars that

endlessstreamsofmotorcycles

turn the

corner out of nowhere

smellsand colors jackfruit mangosteen

mangos guavaslilies

broken rice sweet ricetiny roses raw

beef chicken rambutanlychee

carnations bun bo hue chineseplums baby bananas cuts of pork

motorbike

motorbikes

masks

motorbikesmotorbikesdust

poem by Chuong-Dai