Note to readers: There will be some Vietnamese words and phrases throughout the stories. There will not be direct translations, because my hope is that you will read closely and enjoy this language. Thank you.

I. RACE (THE UNIVERSE)

As the hospice nurse gently took away the ventilator and quietly left the room according to the patient’s wish, she gazed out the window to admire the lilac sunset upon the great flat-topped Table Mountains. The wind whispered, and she could hear the conversations of tropical seagulls. The writer realized life was not a race, but a journey. It was about savoring every moment. Why had she not known this sooner? Instead, she felt as if she had been in competition her entire life.

Turning her head from the... read more

Down in rags with a soiled stray bulldog puppy in her metallic arms, Cherie cried: “What does it take to be considered human?” Her words released into fog, vanished in the unwelcomed neighborhood of Chicago.

Across the street, there was a French bakery, doors wide opened to let in air. Its glow lit up the gloomy avenue, as it lit up a final grain of hope in Cherie’s beating heart. Her fleshy, purpled bare feet pushed against the... read more

“I don’t see what’s all the hype about,” Liz said, looking down to the shiny floor of the shopping mall, her newly layered dark brown hair fell over her eyes, one strand after the other sliding smoothly. 

“It’s all fast fashion, and where do you get the money to shop so much?” She continued talking without breaking eye contact with the floor. The air was densified with high-end perfumes and thin clothes bearing heavy price tags.

“Do you maybe want to head out and explore the city? There are some Swedish candy stores.” Liz suggested and I agreed. We pierced through... read more

A parade of doves unfold their wings, simultaneously flying up the rainy sky arching over the ancient towers of the grand Københavns Hovedbanegård, typically known as the Copenhagen Central train station. It’s another afternoon of typical Denmark weather. Gushing gray fall winds howled at the sturdy ash-red bricks of the station’s entrance, inviting hundreds of hurried visitors to board their next adventure. Still, the facade gives off the feeling of a rusty building withstanding the flow of time. Given that it was built in the cold December of 1911, it knows things you don’t even think of. The repetitive columns of the station’s entrance are aligned so precisely, one could almost be hypnotized by its classical symmetry. If one day, this bustling station got abandoned, the massive exterior would still be as welcoming as it was intimidating, as if one can be transported to a different world once they stepped in. 

In a sense, that is true. Most people who come here have somewhere to be and someone to meet. It’s a train station–you arrive to depart. Only a few pause and enjoy people-watching, which is rewarding if you can spare a bite of your luxurious time.

There is... read more

... read more

Always double, triple, quadruple quadruple-check my to-do lists

Must not let my mind grabbled by hazy mist.

But

The place written for me lies not in dotted papers nor on social media 

But

They are written on the stars and planets, on the Big Dipper, and on Mars.

I have predictions for the future... read more

Red: the sand, the flesh, the passion

Flooding through me

Is it wrong to have relinquished my overspilling desire for life?

Blue: the clouds, my irises, the melancholy

Draping heavy over me like my grandmother’s blanket

Is it right to sink my back on calming waters and ... read more

Tip        toe         tip

       toe         tip

Swing your hips

to the rhythm of 

summer night and rain

Pitter   patter   pitter

                                        patter

Pots and pans clatter

As we swirl into each other

Your dress

Your eyes

Your imaginary voice

Are of glittering azure 

The light of stardust

So far, far away from me ... read more