memories | memories
May.11.2013
The young dogwood tree in the front yard is through blooming. The rosy azaleas by the front walk have been gorgeous for over a week, but I doubt if they last too much longer. The two bouquets that I picked from their branches have graced the living and dining rooms for...
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May.11.2013
Note: I wrote the essay below a decade ago and it was collected in "East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres." On the occasion of Mother's Day, it is reposted here. My mother suffers from dementia and forgetfulness now, and is growing frail, but her ways remain forever devoted to traditions, to...
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May.09.2013
Note: I wrote the essay below almost two decades ago, at the beginning of my life as a writer. It is collected in my first book Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora which won a Pen Award in 2006, and is anthologized widely over the years. A popular assignment...
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May.06.2013
Growing up in the South, by the time you could talk fairly well and listen just a little bit, you could immediately tell another Southerner. The phrases they used, the slow, melodious speech, and the ever present PTA smile gave it away every time! In case you don't know what a PTA smile...
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Apr.29.2013
Hiraeth. I see the tulips and the red berries. The rusting swing set between the lilac bushes. One was purple and one was white. I smell the chlorine wafting from the town’s swimming pool a half mile away. My cats (different cats in different years) turn the corner of the house into the back yard...
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Apr.24.2013
For some reason I researched the history of television this week.
It's a fascinating tale of inventors and engineers testing and innovating for decades around the world to develop the medium that's evolved. Talking with an older friend about it brought back memories for us.
His...
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Apr.19.2013
Driving down the road, I peer over at the progress of the new retail building. A man on his hands and knees tends to the soil, where the grass and flowers will be. He has a garden pick in his hand, that I see as he raises it, before bringing it down to the earth.
I was transported in that instant...
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Apr.04.2013
These memories haunt me,
creeping silently,
stealthy into my
stream of consciousness.
Trapped by these thoughts,
spiraling 'round and 'round my brain.
I want them gone,
exorcized from my mind,
pulled out by their bitter roots.
© annettealaine-2013
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Apr.01.2013
I thought that room was locked,
the mess hidden behind those doors~
but you flung them open wide,
spilling its contents~
opening that can of worms.
I run about to and fro~
frantically gathering up the memories,
shoving them back into the past
where they belong.
© annettealaine-2013
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Mar.21.2013
My mental jukebox is playing Little Red Corvette today. I don't know why. Written and sung by Prince, the song came out on his 1999 album in 1983.
I was living on Okinawa then. I vividly remember enjoying one of Okinawa's beautiful blue sky days as I stood outside The...
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