Leona Chen

“When they ask you
where you're from,
tell them your name
was fleshed from the toothless mouth
of a war-woman.
That you were not born
but crawled, headfirst --
into the hunger of dogs. My son, tell them
the body is a blade that sharpens
by cutting.”
― Ocean Vuong, Night Sky with Exit Wounds

“If you must know anything, know that the hardest task is to live only once. That a woman on a sinking ship becomes a life raft -- no matter how soft her skin is.”
― Ocean Vuong, Night Sky with Exit Wounds

“Your father is only your father
until one of you forgets. Like how the spine
won't remember its wings
no matter how many times our knees
kiss the pavement. Ocean,
are you listening? The most beautiful part
of your body is wherever
your mother's shadow falls.”
― Ocean Vuong, Night Sky with Exit Wounds

“I pitied the French for their naivete in believing that they had to visit a country in order to exploit it. Hollywood was much more efficient, imagining the countries it wanted to exploit. I was maddened by my helplessness before the Auteur's imaginations and machinations. His arrogance marked something new in the world, for this was the first war where the losers would write history instead of the victors.”
― Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer