Once Was
by Kia Wright
(Third Place • Poetry)

As crinkling petals—f a deafening sound
Ten thousand memories burn to the ground.
A flourish of red, black, white, and blue
Slowly descends on a jungle view.

Vietnam is no longer what it once was.
The cruel hours before the radio's buzz—
Too many Americans waiting to hear
The death and destruction so inevitably near.

But what about those Southern Vietnamese…
The waters they crossed, turbulent seas
Between them and the soil they know best
Alive and fleeing, but dying of agony
Without knowledge of the rest.

The rest who were left behind in their homeland
Pray to the petals that were so cruelly smashed
Hopeful blood awaiting a letter
And a wish that was never granted.

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