Bedtime Stories

As a child you told me stories. Stories of princesses and dragons and magnificent castles Filled with flowers and little pink tassels. Even the ones about Superman and Wonder woman How they saved the world from the worst of crimes But those stories weren't the ones that I loved the most. The stories where You talked about crossing the oceans in a tiny boat Survived for months with only a day's worth of food Drifting in the waters because there was nothing left to lose. Lands once flourished with beauty White ao dai, the traditional dresses of your country Now stained with the blood of war. To be free from the fight was all that you wanted Tearing at your heart and soul You had to leave and run, never to return And those homelands you left behind Were simply burned. This is where You then sometimes stopped in the middle of the phrase To stroke my hair, wipe tears off your gentle face, And whisper, "We were saved" When you mentioned how lucky you were To spot a ship from afar. American soldiers who pulled you up from the salty waters And not knowing if the water from your eyes Were ocean water or tears But you made it. Everyone made it. But the struggle wasn't over because You then came to foreign place Not knowing how to speak a thing But you managed to wait. Taking classes, working hard, making connections Simply to fit in. To find your place in a new society Because your old one disappeared. And to hear those yelling "Go back to your country" Was the most heart-breaking. What country? What home? War destroyed it all. Even then you held your breath Just like what you did in the ocean tides And waited. Eventually, you assimilated. You learned their language And annunciated every syllable, every word To articulate every thought and idea That was buried deep down in the Pacific. And you see, These stories had the true heroes. There were no damsels in distress saved by the prince No superhero to swoop down and save the day. They were true heroes Swimming against the waves of fate Gasping for breath simply to live Fighting for the freedom that they deserved All by themselves. To be free from oppression To simply become an American. These bedtime stories were real. Every word, every sentence. And I take pride in them because My father, my mother, my people were those heroes.