I recently found Faith, locked it in my heart and threw away the key in the ocean! There were times I didn't know what Faith was. Instead, my heart was full of doubts. The negative voices kept repeating the same tune, "Who are you kidding here? You are nobody!”
Writing has given me hope and a reason to live since Thanksgiving 1999. I love it more than anything in this world, but once I started the transition from my native tongue, Vietnamese to English in 2005, I lost faith. I didn't think I can make my points across, nor able to deliver as well as I could in my beautiful native language. It took me ten long years to learn English and practice positive self-talk that I too can write English from my heart as well as anyone else.
My first published book was a book of poetry - one hundred poems. It took me two years to complete. It was easy, and I think because I didn't have to write a long story. I gave it all my heart and time. I spent endless hours during my lunchtime at work to compose poetry. While I was writing one of the poems, I couldn’t control tears from overflowing. It is entitled, "Play For Me The Music of Love." I had a headset on with classical music. The feeling was so intense as the music playing in my head with the images of Vietnam War and Boat People escaping Vietnam after the Communist took over the whole country in April 1975.
PLAY THE MUSIC OF LOVE
Play for me, the music of love
Chase away all the dark clouds
Clear the sky with beautiful rainbows
Let the sun’s radiance shine on Earth
Play for me again, the music of love
Bring great melodies and rhythms to life
Fill this world with joy and happiness
Let us all sing along in harmony
Play for me again, the music of love
Let the sound take us to a better place
Where no sadness or injustice is allowed
Let us smile again after our sorrowful experiences
Play for me once again, the music of love
Play it loud and clear
Let the joyous tunes flow through our spirit
Allow the music to take us to a wonderful place
I wrote one hundred poems from my real life experiences and struggles. After publishing My Poetic Journey to Freedom in 2013, I didn’t do much to promote it or thought they were worthy of any one time. In the last four years, my heart still desires to write more. This time I wrote a short memoir of my real life story from my turbulent childhood to adulthood. It took me almost four years to write a short story due to many factors. Just a couple months ago, while editing my work, negative thoughts crept up in my head and spoke the same depressing tune again, “Who are you kidding here? Your story is not important. No one cares.” I almost deleted the whole manuscript, which I did once before! However, this time I didn’t allow the evil voices win me. I fought back and told them to get lost! Last night, finally I submitted my manuscript to Outskirt Publishing. What a journey! I'm looking forward to creating award-winning stories in the years to come. I am an amazing