"self-portrait as a container" by Blue Đào Nguyễn

Con·tain·er /kənˈtānər/. (noun). 1. An object. 2. An object that can be used to hold. 3. An object that can be used to transport something. Synonyms: Vessel. Do you feel like a vessel? Ves·sel /ˈves(ə)l/. (noun). 1. Ship. 2. Hollow container. 3. Cask, Barrel, Ship. I think of myself as a container. in august i started eating myself into myself. this isn’t a metaphor. i was actually hungry. a barrel of hunger. i didn’t even know it could rain like this. i collected rain in the barrel of my Stom·ach. /ˈstəmək/. (noun). 1. An internal organ. 2. An appetite. Stom·ach. /ˈstəmək/. (verb). 1. Consume. Did you ever think of yourself as a daughter? A son? Con. /kon/. (noun). A Vietnamese noun meaning: 1. Daughter. 2. Son. 3. Child. Wasn’t I a vessel, then? Con. /kon/. (classifier). A Vietnamese classifier meaning: 1. Specifying the act of being an animal. 2. I am of animal. 3. To classify animacy. Wasn’t I a container? i wanted to be a container. until i became a container. to beg a small god to turn me into a prayer. i watched myself become a container. over and over. over and over. wasn’t i a good daughter/son/child/ Con. /kon/. (noun).? A Vietnamese noun meaning: 1. Daughter. 2. Son. 3. Child. 4. Animal. I watched my mother become a Con·tain·er /kənˈtānər/. (noun). 1. An object holding grief. 2. An object holding grief. 3. An object holding grief. An object holding daughterhood. my mom was a daughter. the way i was a daughter. to contain a prayer. to consume— a barrel. vessel. con. animal. daughter. over and over. over and over. wasn’t i a good [daughter/son/child/]? ————————————– Blue Đào Nguyễn called us from Saigon, Vietnam. voicemailpoems.org/submit/ facebook.com/voicemailpoems x.com/voicemailpoems bsky.app/profile/voicemailpoems.bsky.social instagram.com/voicemailpoems