“Visiting My Uncle in the Sierra Nevada Foothills” by Soul Vang
~after Du Fu
Here, in these misty folds of hills, you have rested
for these fifteen years. How lonely it must be
to be so out of the way. Your sons and daughters
have all moved away, and only visit every few years
when there’s another funeral in town. The road here
twists and turns, and it’s a wonder I still remember
the way to this hidden place. This year, your last brother
has passed through, so you four brothers
must be together and are ready to move on,
so I’ll say my last goodbye.
There is not a sound, not a sight of a living thing,
except for a scrub jay pointing me on my way.
About the author:
Soul Vang is the author of Song of the Cluster Bomblet (forthcoming from Blue Oak Press, 2019) and To Live Here (Imaginary Friend Press, 2014).
Poet, educator, and U.S. Army veteran, Vang received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from California State University, Fresno, and is an editorial member of the Hmong American Writers’ Circle (HAWC).
Vang’s writing has appeared in Academy of American Poets (poets.org), Water~Stone Review, Abernathy Magazine, Asian American Literary Review, Fiction Attic Press, In the Grove, The Packinghouse Review, Southeast Asia Globe, and The New York Times, among others.
His awards and honors include the 2014 Imaginary Friend Press Poetry Prize and the 2015 Horizon Artist Award from the Fresno Arts Council.
