Song of the Cicadas

I first read Mong-Lan's "Why is the Edge Always Windy?" before reading "Song of the Cicadas," and I must say that I have seldom encountered a masterly poet such as her. She captures in a few words gracefully what other poets would need ten. You don't need to have travelled to Vietnam or Mexico or San Francisco to understand/feel/intuit the primal exigencies of the land, of history, of the heart, of what she writes. Mong-Lan, apparently, went back to Vietnam in the mid 90's, at a time when very few Viet Kieus have gone back--these experiences form the crux of the book. What she has put into verse is new vital terrority, exploring not just the psychology of displacement, the aftermath of war, but the beauty, both visual and visceral, of experiences striking, commonplace and haunting. Mong-Lan is also a visual artist and her drawings and cover photo grace the beautiful book. A must have!!

Scarcely with a first book does a young poet approach such a mastery of craft as Mong Lan does here in this poignant, graceful, inimitably organic collection. She achieves those special balances - passion and restraint, lyric and narrative, naivete and wisdom, intelligence and honesty - which are so rare in published contemporary poetry today, which is riddled with flagrantly duplicitous, smarmy, disjunctive, and/or watered down prose, which (of course) passes as the best poetry thanks to the influx of critics whose will is bent by the political pressures of the literati. But enough of that, and back to Mong Lan. Those poems within the sequences such as "Trajectory" and "The Golden Gate Bridge" seem to hang carefully like magnificent stained glass windows; in which intense color, silky texture, and story power are all constantly self-evident and at play; and through which the author's essence yearns to touch your own. I'll admit, I'm a pretty voracious reader, snobbish and not-easily-impressed; "Song of the Cicadas" haunts me for hours afterward; the poems are arrows into the heart. A must read.

I can see war in these pages, but it's more than that. It's also about ordinary people and their lives, not just Vietnamese culture but something universal in all of us. Highly recommend!

Read this beautiful collection of poems. They will move you with their grace, insight and strength. Notice the blank spaces between the words and lines-more is said at these broken places than mere words.

This is a very impressive book of poetry. Mong-Lan is a gifted writer who conveys the lyricism of language in the description of diverse experiences in Vietnam. Highly recommended.