Lantern Review: A Journal of Asian American Poetry

Kathy Tran

Ghazal

My father is still in war.
He has lost and struggled in war.

I don’t think he sleeps at night, afraid he’s still there.
I think my father’s soul is lost at war.

My father has lost his mind.
I don’t believe my father’s the same since war.

My mother doesn’t speak much about it.
She has erased her memory of a war.

You must forget what happened.
You can’t forget what happened in war.

I don’t worry too much. I’m not sure.
My uncle won’t leave the house because of war.

I’ll never understand, I don’t believe in it.
I don’t believe in war.

I can’t take this anymore.
We are all at war.