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By Ocean Vuong

For Tamir Rice

yellow plastic
black sea


eye-shaped shard
on a darkened map


no shores now
to arrive — or
depart
no wind but
this waiting which
moves you


as if  the seconds
could be entered
& never left


toy boat — oarless
each wave
a green lamp
outlasted


toy boat
toy leaf  dropped
from a toy tree
waiting


waiting
as if the sp-
arrows
thinning above you
are not
already pierced
by their own names


Source: Poetry (April 2016)

  • Living
  • Social Commentaries

Poet Bio

Ocean Vuong
Born in Saigon, poet and editor Ocean Vuong was raised in Hartford, Connecticut, and earned a BA at Brooklyn College (CUNY). He lives in Queens, New York, where he serves as managing editor for Thrush Press.  In his poems, he often explores transformation, desire, and violent loss.  See More By This Poet

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