[b}1st place writing: poem
by Tin Tran, age 10
Lockwood Elementary School, Oakland, California

I am standing on the beach in San Francisco, California
I am looking at the ocean
The wind blows cold against me
I feel proud

I’m sharing this ocean
with my cultures
I close my eyes
and think
about the other side of the ocean

Viet Nam

What about my other land of Viet Nam?

I think of egg rolls

I open my mouth
taste the carrots and vegetables
a thousand flavors exploding
I’m like a rabbit
munching and crunching
like a tiger
devouring a zebra

America

What about this land of America?

I think of french fries

My fingers are greasy and slimy
I taste the potatoes and oil
wash it down with soda
I’m like a hog
slurping and slobbering
like a Great White Shark
eating a thousand anchovies.

I look at the ocean
and see my Vietnamese culture
part of who I am
where I come from

My cultures
separated by the water
are like a boat that will never sink
a boat that will always float

I am standing on the beach in Phan Thiet, Viet Nam
I am looking at the ocean
The wind blows hot against me
I feel proud

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BETA TESTER