By — artsdesk artsdesk Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/poetry/hoa-nyugen-reads-her-poem-no-sleep Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter How to contemplate climate change when you have two kids under age 4 Poetry Mar 2, 2015 2:00 PM EDT Listen to Hoa Nguyen read “No Sleep” from her collection, “Red Juice: Poems 1998-2008.” When Nguyen wrote the poem, she had two young children (hence the title), and she was reading about how climate change affects certain species and weather patterns. No Sleep No sleep no sleep escape Milk raining down turning lilies white Mena presided over moon-blood Her offerings: young puppies that still sucked their mother Formaldehyde in the sheets to be wrinkle-free April 2006 5X the average in tornadoes and thriving poison ivy The sky turns green Old Roger has died and gone to his grave gone to his grave gone to his grave Old Roger has died and gone to his grave Hiegh ho gone to his grave “Several ice-sheets in Greenland have doubled their rate of slide” My boy blows a plastic whistle (parrot-shaped) stamped Made in China Hoa Nguyen is the author of eight poetry books and chapbooks. “Red Juice” is Nguyen’s fourth full-length books of poetry. Her other works are “As Long As Trees Last,” “Hecate Lochia” and “Your Ancient See Through.” Her poetry has also been collected in nine anthologies, including “The Volta Book of Poets,” “Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sound: The Teachers of WritersCorps in Poetry and Prose,” “The Best of Fence” and “Not for Mothers Only.” Nguyen studied poetics at New College of California in San Francisco. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, where she teaches at Ryerson University and in private workshops. “No Sleep” from “Red Juice: Poems 1998-2008.” Copyright 2015 by Hoa Nguyen. Reprinted with permission of the author and Wave Books. By — artsdesk artsdesk
Listen to Hoa Nguyen read “No Sleep” from her collection, “Red Juice: Poems 1998-2008.” When Nguyen wrote the poem, she had two young children (hence the title), and she was reading about how climate change affects certain species and weather patterns. No Sleep No sleep no sleep escape Milk raining down turning lilies white Mena presided over moon-blood Her offerings: young puppies that still sucked their mother Formaldehyde in the sheets to be wrinkle-free April 2006 5X the average in tornadoes and thriving poison ivy The sky turns green Old Roger has died and gone to his grave gone to his grave gone to his grave Old Roger has died and gone to his grave Hiegh ho gone to his grave “Several ice-sheets in Greenland have doubled their rate of slide” My boy blows a plastic whistle (parrot-shaped) stamped Made in China Hoa Nguyen is the author of eight poetry books and chapbooks. “Red Juice” is Nguyen’s fourth full-length books of poetry. Her other works are “As Long As Trees Last,” “Hecate Lochia” and “Your Ancient See Through.” Her poetry has also been collected in nine anthologies, including “The Volta Book of Poets,” “Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sound: The Teachers of WritersCorps in Poetry and Prose,” “The Best of Fence” and “Not for Mothers Only.” Nguyen studied poetics at New College of California in San Francisco. She currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, where she teaches at Ryerson University and in private workshops. “No Sleep” from “Red Juice: Poems 1998-2008.” Copyright 2015 by Hoa Nguyen. Reprinted with permission of the author and Wave Books.