Sunrise from the Window

The Full Circle

The Full Circle

For Dan on Your Birthday

            In the fragrant candlelight, I was listening to the piano music, Nocturne by Chopin that Dan gave me that afternoon. Through the glass window, the round, soft yellow moon slowly danced over the horizon. Dan called me: “Honey!”

            I turned my head back to Dan. Dan carefully opened the red square velvet and took out the ring. Holding the ring, Dan knelt; he asked, “Will you marry me?”

            I was shocked; I stared at Dan. Dan repeated, “Will you marry me?”

            I kept silent; Dan held my left hand and put the gold diamond onto my ring finger. My tears fell down. I embraced Dan. He carried me to the bed. He dried my tears; caressed my face; he murmured, “I love you, Honey! You are the woman whom I have dreamed of for a long time. From now, I obey you as a servant. I am a servant of our immaculate love. This diamond is the token of my pure love, as hard and sparkling as the diamond. When I put it on your ring finger, my love follows the vein to your heart and becomes a unique love.”

            I looked at the ring. Dan continued, “The round shape of the ring is symbolic of our eternal love. The love goes around and never ends. The round shape is a strong shape; it is hard to break. The gold is endurance; it can bend easily. Our love is endured in front of hardship, but it also bends and is flexible.”

            Dan kissed my finger. He kept talking: “Honey, I am not a good man. In the past, I made mistakes. I have many flaws, but I am trying to change my lifestyle to be a good man and bring you peace and happiness.”

            I told Dan, “Dan, you are a mighty American with free, blue eyes that I fell in love with the first time I set foot on this land. A few years ago, at the Citizenship Ceremony, I was engaged to Uncle Sam, my ideological man. I love the United States, not just because of its virtues and wealth, but I also love the United States with its dark sides. You are the United States with its integrity and villain. Now, my engagement is a full circle. I am engaged to the United States in both intellect and physicality; in the abstract and the concrete.”

--Anhthao Bui

Sunset in Manhattan Beach California

Failure

“Failure is a poignant that pricks into my fragile heart and makes me jump up to my goals”

Discrimination

“Discrimination naturally sits in human minds that all efforts are surrendered.”-- Anhthao Bui

The Prayers of Thanksgiving 2013

In San Jose, fall comes later than in other cities. Mother Nature lazily puts on a mild light jacket over her short dress. She indifferently puts light yellow makeup on her green eyelids, lavender lipstick, and maroon foundation powder on her dry face, burgundy lotion on her neck, and chocolate sun block on her limbs. She playfully mixes olive, silver, alabaster, and magenta peacock skin care mixture on her silky body. Mother Nature looks at herself in the mirror; she laughs out loud; in the mirror is a colorful Halloween Clown. She goes to the dry hill covered with pale leaves where children are playing. The children greet her, “Hello, New Harvest Season! Welcome back, with red, orange, and walnut Thanksgiving! Sorry, healthy Turkey. We promise to stay away from Halloween chocolate candies.”

Mother Nature gently embraces the children and says, “Hi, my future Americans, keep warm and don’t forget the homeless, hungry children! Pray for the unfortunate people and our government.”

A Girl with a black pony tail questions Her: “Why don’t you mention our parents and educators who care for us the most?”

Mother Nature grins and praises the Girl: “Good question my dear! You always carry them in your hearts; you remember and pray for them during your entire life. Let them take a break. The U.S. government needs your prayers more than ever before.”

A Curly-Haired Boy with dark skin puts his hand to his forehead and salutes Mother Nature in a military style: “Yes, Madam!”

Mother Nature laughs loudly, “Ha…ha….ha…”

A Blue-Eyed Boy cries, “Stand still! Salute the flag!”

The children follow the Blue-Eyed Boy’s direction. They put their right hands on the left side of their chests, raise their heads ups, and read aloud, “I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, one nation under God…”

Mother Nature cheers them, “I am proud of you, the American future!”

Mother Nature gives an American flag pin to each child. The children quickly put the flag pins on their shirts and blouses. They hold hands, make a circle, and slowly move around Mother Nature. She sings with them, “God bless America; land that I love….” They point to Her and say, “Mother Nature is the United States. The United States is Mother Nature.”

She touchingly sobs, “Thank you for choosing me as a symbol of the United States. I am honored to represent your young country.”

Mother Nature starts singing, “This land is your land; this land is my land....”

The children continue: “From California to the New York Islands…” They point to a Blond-Haired Girl and sing, “You are America!”

The Blond-Haired Girl says, “I am the European American. Our ancestors came to the New Word on the famous Mayflower ship.”

They point to the dark-skinned Boy, who says, “I am proud of my ancestors, although they came to the United States as slaves.”

A Round-Faced Girl asks them, “Don’t you know our ancestors made American transportation run smoothly? With their bare hands and human strength, they made many tunnels through the mountains.”

A Girl with big, round black eyes and a long, colorful skirt adds, “Without our ancestors’ help, the U.S. crops would rot in the fields. I am a Latina American.”

A Quiet Girl holds the letter S on her hand and says, “Look, our country’s shape is shared with California’s shape. We are the youngest ethnic community in the United States. We have helped the American economy to grow during the 80s and 90s.”

“This land was made for you and for me…”

Confetti rain pours down to interrupt their assembly. They look up; over the horizon, a rainbow has appeared. Inside the rainbow are the words: “You are America. Our future is yours, young trees.”

San Jose, November 2013

Sunset