Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong
Logophobia is the (usually obsessive) fear of words. Because Ocean Vuong writes so personally about his own life, the logophobia in this poem represents a fear of allowing yourself to be vulnerable to others through your work.
Afterward, I woke
into the red dark
to write
gia đình
on this yellow pad
Looking through the letters
I can see
into the earth
below, the blue blur
of bones.
Quickly--
I drill the ink
into a period.
The deepest hole,
where the bullet,
after piercing
my father's back,
has come
to rest.
Quickly--I climb
inside.
I enter
my life
the way words
entered me--
by falling
through
the silence
of this wide
open mouth.
Logophobia was written by Ocean Vuong.
Ocean Vuong released Logophobia on Fri Apr 01 2016.