Magazine

The Orange Silk Dress by Sithis Yim Samnang   Between our dreams fear in realities meet the unfortunate bravery captured an uncalled treachery.   My mother sewed a dress made of orange silk wounded her hand and her mouth with needle made weapon, to quilt the flesh of her own and her son   She gave him his dress to impress his father to confess his future to commit to his wonder   She gave him his dress to leave unwanted identity his father momentarily startled uncontrolled...

From the publisher Copper Canyon Press:  In this staggering poetry debut, Monica Sok illuminates the experiences of Cambodian diaspora and reflects on America’s role in escalating the genocide in Cambodia. A Nail the Evening Hangs On travels from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, where Tuol Sleng and other war museums reshape the imagination of a child of refugees; to New York City and Lancaster, where the dailiness of intergenerational trauma persists on the subway or among the cornfields of a small...

Thanks to my fellow poet YENG Chheangly, I have learned to admire CHIN Meas. I invited him to our Khmer Literature Festival in 2017 and he has returned for the following years. Both his life and his personhood deserve our attention. Many of his poems have a Buddhist resonance and serve as cautionary tales about our tragic flaws.  He embraces the impermanence of life and hauntingly leaves his readers pondering multiple layers of meaning. Chin Meas lives in Siem Reap with his wife and two young...

I see you   You’re a soldier                                     ​ A wanderer and a beggar You beg at bus stations and in the market                          By clasping your palms together. Young people like me ask                                  ​ Whether you’re real or fake. Are you real or fake?   I keenly observe                                                ​ Your gestures, both soft and frail, Harsh and callous —   Your actual manners I...

Mekong River speak out her grief to villagers. Created from the inspiration of documenting the images of Tommyo Costa Ito.    នេះគឺជាវីដេអូនកំណាព្យទីបីហើយ ដែលខ្ញុំ បានរៀនផលិត។ លើកនេះ ខ្ញុំបានដកស្រងយកច្បាប់ប្រុសដោយបណ្ឌិត ម៉ឺង ម៉ៃ មកបង្ហាញ ដោយបង្កើតរូបភាពថ្មីបន្ថែមទាក់ទងនឹងមុខ របស់កុមារី យ៉េង ចន្ទគឺមអ៊ី និង ថន ណាត់ថាក់លី។ I've been learning this process of making video merging them with Khmer poetry. This time I took some part of the old master poet work, Chok Moen Mai. The piece I...

An Old Book   Books on the shelf are in categories, Well kept and arranged in order, While one lies elsewhere, Is covered in thick dust.   Kept but never cared for, Tossed into a corner, An outcast from the new shelved books, Fearful it may destroy the shelf’s proper upkeep.   The book in the corner feels left out. No one even notices it. Dust chokes it, making it full of self-doubts. Only the new books are handsomely good.   Tomorrow he must do some research. He searches through all the...

This Body Mystery - Painting and poem by Chath pierSath Briefcase Owner Combination lock regrets and memories Buried over the years.   Stored in pockets pictures of his wife and children – A resume of a border camp a diary to forget.   He jotted down the date of his interview with a US immigration officer. Things he had to memorize to buy his way out of miseries. He lied. Blame it on fate His HIV exploding into AIDS. His wife and four children immigrated.   He was alone, a...