Ocean Vương: Night Sky With Exit Wounds

In his book of poetry, Ocean Vương captured the violence, loss, and suffering from the war in Việt Nam. In “Audade with Burning City,” his cinematic lyricism of a chaotic battle scene is accompanied by the rhythm and the melody of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.” The juxtaposition is brilliant. In addition to the brutality of war, Vương pens about sex and the dark history of America from an outsider perspective. “Ode to Masturbation” is one of the provocative pieces that displayed Vương’s mastery of the English language. Although I don’t know much about poetry, I enjoyed this collection immensely.