My Life Story
by Lan Nguyen, Vietnam
What shall I tell about my life?
a life of changes
a life of losing
remembering
eighteen years ago
a little child was born
surrounded by the love of family
so warm and tender
surrounded by mountains and rivers
so free and beautiful
But life was not easy
the dearest father passed away
and left a big scar in the child's head
She grew up with something missing in her
She had seen the people born and dying
born from the war
dying from guns and bombs
Sometimes she wished
she could do someting
for herself and her people
But what could she do?
Nothing but watch and watch
for she is too small
only a sand in the big desert
no power
nothing at all
She is only herself an ordinary person
carrying a dream
that seems so far, far, far, away
The only thing she can do
is keep hoping
one day her dream will come true
God cannot be mean to her forever.
Shihab Nye, Naomi. 1992. This same sky: a collection of poems from around the world. New York:
Simon & Schuster Publishers. ISBN 0689806302.
__________________________________________
Extension
Lead the class in a discussion of when they may have felt hopeless in a situation around
them. The events of September 11, 2001 may come up in many people's thoughts. Just talk about those feelings,
very informally, and compare them with the feelings portrayed in the poem. If you think this exercise would be better
accomplished in writing, have the students write through it instead. The essential element in this extension is trying
to feel the way the speaker of the poem feels when faced with her broken country and world around her.
