How we cite our quotes: (Part.Poem.Stanza)
Quote #1
Maybe soldiers will no longer
patrol our neighborhood,
maybe I can jump rope
after dark… (1.2.2)
One reality of warfare in a community is being surrounded by it all the time, and just getting used to it. Soldiers are all over the place in Saigon, and Hà has to live by a curfew.
Quote #2
Father left home
on a navy mission
[…]
He was captured
on Route 1… (1.6.1)
Warfare takes a real toll on families, and while the soldiers risk life and limb, the people left behind are devastated by their absence. Hà's family will never know what happened to Father, and it takes them nearly a decade to accept his absence and say goodbye.
Quote #3
But when we keep talking about
[…]
How many distant bombs
were heard the previous night,
Miss Xinh finally says no more. (1.9.2)
Instead of the latest movie or hit single on the radio, the kids in class discuss warfare. Bombs going off signals death and destruction, but do the children realize this?