Pos Moua 1: Laos, 1977

Welcome to this multi-series interview with author Pos Moua. This is part of our new series, the Thread Series, where we interview older Hmong people about their life and journey from Laos to the United States during the Secret War. This is the reason for why we started The Story Cloth Shop, and we are so excited to roll this out.

In this first part, Pos reads one of his poems from his book Karst Mountains Will Bloom. His book is available for purchase through Amazon here. His use of words and descriptors conjure the life that was before, the sorrows that will never go away. 

Laos, 1977
 
Long years trotted down the passing river and field.
Some nights, tears stood in his eyes
when he was about to sleep:
 
He remembers sleeping warm
under the color of absence--
absence in disgrace, disgrace
from forgetting to march for the dead,
forgetting is another disgrace of absence.
 
Absence from killings, like the kidding of the bird,
like the air killing the bird, the bird's the people--
 
Send these killings to the bombarded fissures,
the new design of the grass cottages,
and these are
pictures returning to you:
 
    a farmer's palm
    parted from his body lies on the ground which
    once held his whole body standing perfectly erect,
 
    fingers and hair lost
    & hanging on scored branches.
 
  

We'll be back next week to dive more into the series!

-The Story Cloth Shop Team