THE ROMANTIC PIRATE

I want to be a pirate,
waiting for you on your way to escape.*
I will rob nobody
but kidnap you only.
Take you to my island
to make myself King you Queen.
We will let boatpeople in
on one condition:
be our loyal subjects.
Your hair smells wild flowers.
Coconut juice sweetens your lips.
Ocean waves are your lullaby.
Pink sky embraces blue water.
Silver moon gleams through palm leaves.
We'll have children and grandchildren.
The desert island will become our old homeland.

Hoang Hai Ho

* this poem was written when the exodus of Vietnamese boatpeople was in full gear.