What were they like?
The poem "What were they like?’’ is presented as a conversation between the people. The first person asks the second man how the people from ‘’Viet Nam’’ were like and also about their way of life. The speaker asks about their use of decorative stones, lanterns and ceremonies. The second person answered, telling the first one how the hearts of the men turned to stone and how no one can remember the way they used to be. Their behavior changed after their children were killed, the second person claims and starting then the people could no longer feel happiness.
The second man highlights how there was no more joy for the simple people because everything they loved was destroyed. Their children were dead and also the land on which they depended for food was being destroyed from the sky that used to bring them rain and prosperity. The people stopped singing as well thus highlighting how the people were affected.
This poem presents the way the Vietnamese people were affected by the war. The people presented in the poem are simple ones, peasants who had no role in the war. Yet, they were the ones that suffered the most. Their livelihood was affected by the war and their joy was destroyed by the violence that robbed them of their children and livelihood.
Clouds
The poem begins with the narrator looking at the clouds as they rise higher and higher and the narrator marvels at the power of the clouds and meditates on the feelings she has as she watches them rise. The image of the sky makes the narrator think of the previous night when she was with a man who was cold. She made herself calm by thinking of the skies above until she was able to see in her mind a field in the distance. The field is described as being filled with flowers and gold, thus transmitting the image of calmness and purity.
In the last stanza the narrator returns to the present. She continued to look at the clouds passing over her and thinking about the truth.
The poem from above is filled with symbolism. The clouds appear as a threatening force in the beginning and it is linked with the men near which the woman stays. The clouds could be used here as a symbol for uncertainties while the coldness which the man transmits is maybe his attitude towards the woman. The narrator continues to watch this could until a beautiful field can be seen. The field can be used here as a symbol for the truth the narrator was finally able to see, emerging form the clouds. Finally, she comes back to the present time, when the fog of uncertainty has been lifted. It is only then when the narrator is able to see the true colors of truth.
The ache of marriage
The poem "The ache of marriage’’ is a short poem in which the narrator talks about the pains of being married. While it is not mentioned what cause these pains, they affect everyone and their body almost completely. However, the narrator agrees that the only way a person can find happiness is through love and thus this pain is worth bearing because it leads to something greater.
To the snake
In the poem mentioned above, the narrator addresses the snake she took and put on her shoulders. Slowly, the narrator becomes aware of the true nature of the snake as she feels its coldness and when the snake starts to hiss in her ear.
In the last stanza, the narrator claims she was warned by her friends and close ones about the danger posed by the snake but she refused to listen to them, hoping their words will not come to pass. Unfortunately, the snake ends up leaving the narrator and she has to return to the life she had before.
Seems like we must be somewhere else
The poem mentioned above begins with the narrator describing a procession which is watched by many. Despite thins, only their eyes are visible, almost as if they are animals trapped in a tree. The narrator records how a group of people ask her about their meaning in life and how they are not sure whether they are what they want to be or if they became something society wants them to be.
Next, a group of people discuss whether the light they see is the twilight or the sunrise but the narrator makes them understand that the most important thing is to live in the moment, without stressing too much over what time it is. The poem ends with the narrator explaining how the train whistle came to be and claiming a man invented it because it wanted the train to speak for himself. This proves that everyone needs someone in their lives to listen to the, even if it is just a stranger.
