ISSUE 16 | FALL 2013
TOY CATERPILLAR Minh Pham
In re-education camp A father carved Wheels for a locomotive From molted tree bark,
Formed a smokestack out of Metal shell casings, and glued skins Of young bamboo roots together With mud to create the frame.
To see his seven-year-old son For the first time, he trekked Through a bamboo forest With the train in his hand. He picked up a baby Snake and apologized Before tossing it Onto a land mine.
When the father returned home A boy ran up to him and called him “Ba.” He did not recognize The sound of a son Calling for his father. Aggravated, He threw the toy train Against the rim of a stone well. The train shattered.
The boy cried over its body. He tried to press the parts together But the wheels and smokestack Had fallen to the bottom of the well. He picked up his father’s gift And pretended it was a caterpillar.
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