Friends Call Me Sage
by: Tam Phan

Speak Spanish like I'm from Corona, Queens.
Play short like Jeter.
Studied Existentialism, Dostoevsky, and the Rape of Nanking,
Write poetry cuz it's how I vent.

Loathe people who kill each other without knowing why.
Or hate each other for skin color,
Or because they pray in another language,
Or eat with different utensils,

Some call me depressing,
Others say, "He's crazy.
No.
A miserable wretch because of my intellect.
A champion of humanity because I believe in free will.

I hail from Brooklyn by way of straw hut on the Mekong Delta.
But I'm more than my country's name.
Friends call me Sage.

Meet Author Tam Phan