THE YEAR OF THE WATER BUFFALO

The year of the water buffalo

The year of the blue moon

The year of old dreams dead

The year of new dreams born

My mother was born

In the year of the water buffalo

I dreamed that a blue ox

Was born from the moon

Vietnam floods back to my father

A water buffalo shot by the river

Fertility and abundance

In the heart of darkness

Sacrificial blood in the summer rain

In the year of my reclamation

The red buffalo lay its weight on me

It roamed the fractured landscape

Across the burning desert

The world fell to dust beneath its feet

Fertility and abundance

In a drought, fade away

The red buffalo looks to the sky

Waiting for the summer rain

The year of the water buffalo

The year of the blue moon

The year of old dreams dead

The year of new dreams born.