Notes from 1999: He had a Vietnamese bride

He had a Viet bride,
Mailed across the sea,
In front of his eye,
For others to see,
How handsome he might;

He had a Viet bride,
Pretty, young and mute,
In front of all eyes,
For others and me,
She was not light;

He had a Viet ride,
Begging for trip home,
In front of his eye,
For others and me,
Her tear was not right;

"Be a loyal bride!
Filial as you might,
To the cuckoo white,"
Scorned the Cuneiform;

"Loyal and filial I should be,
Diamond inside rusted already;
Stranger I should be,
To you and me,"
Crid the black bride;

"Cry no more,
You're in the promised paradise."

"Keep away from me,
One thousand and a mile,
I flew to see,
A shabby hut,
In the golden land,
And you, a rotten meat.

Where, where is the Blue bird,
Once in my green page?
Why, why is the puring,
Under the cage?"

"Cry no more,
Traitor to the Blue bird
You abandoned freedom,
For a handsome ransom;
Now a prim and proper lady,
Perched in self-gilted cage."

"Bring no more story,
Blue bird is calling to me.
Sky open high and wide,
For a heart high and wild."

He had a poor creature,
Locked in a picture,
In front of his eye,
And for others to see,
Soon he would have a new seed.

Day and night she cried,
The pretty Viet bride.
Didn't you mind,
Her black face was white,
From the benign cyanide.

"Oh, poison, treason and freedom,
Why do they sound much the same?
Why do they sound much the same?
Oh, poison, treason and freedom!"