Connections: Vermont   Vietnam (I)

Hot summer day

on the River Road

swimmers of the Ompompanoosuc

dust in my eyes

               oh

               it is the hot wind from Laos

               the girl in Nhe An covers her face with a straw hat

               as we pass   she breathes   through cloth

               she stands between two piles of stone

               the dust of National Highway 1 blinds

me

summertime

I drive through Vermont

my fist on the horn, barefoot

          like Ching