Martin Luther King Jr. Library,
150 E. San Fernando St.
San Jose Ca  95112
Rooms: 255, second Floor
November 17, 2007

Thank you Professor.
Thank you for spending time with me and giving me a chance to share poetry with you. I am very happy to see my professors, relatives, and friends here. I would like to share a haiku just popped up in my mind:

In front of readers
My heart is jumping thump, thump
Thank you for coming

Your bravos: clap, clap
Carry me up to the sky
Haiku rains fall down

I am honored to have Professors of the English Department who always support and encourage me to pursue my dream. I am proud to be an English major at San Jose State University. Seven years ago, when I transferred to San Jose State, I was shy, quiet, and did not often speak in classes, but my professors understood and gave me knowledge tools to discover myself. No word is enough to describe how much I owe my professors. Thus, Yellow Flower is a humble gift to my professors. Although Yellow Flower is not a perfect work, it shows my accomplishment as an English major.  Yellow Flower contains only 57 poems, but my professors at San Jose State University have spent four years teaching me the beauty of literature, and my instructors at Evergreen Valley College have spent three years teaching me the English structure to understand English masterpieces, and my friends helped me learn to speak English clearly.  Without my professors’ teaching and my friends’ help, I would not succeed. I am lucky to have you, my dearest professors and friends. In my life, I have fallen many times, but I do not have the right to give up because of your love, you care, and your trust.

Yellow Flower is also a message to show my students the power of knowledge. Seeking and learning knowledge are long- term processes. We do not see the result right a way, but five years or ten years later, we will see a big difference.

I would like to share Haikus I with you. (READ)

The poem not only reveals my personal experience, but it is also the universal experience of any English learner. American life is tough, but I believe that the United States is the best place in the world to live because America provides equal education for everyone, and offers the opportunities for those who work hard to pursue their dreams.
Thank you for listening.

Speech 2
Palos Verdes Library District
701 Silver Spur Road,
Rolling Hills Estates, Ca 90274
Community Room
December 8, 2007
3:30 p.m.

Thank you for your warm welcome. Thank you for inviting me to join the Showcasing Windows to Vietnam. Thank you for writing and photographing my lovely Vietnam. I would like to share with you a haiku about the beautiful collection, Windows to Vietnam:

WINDOWS TO VIETNAM

Through U.S. Windows
Appear animate elite
Vietnam is in tears

I miss Vietnam badly each time I look at the collection Windows to Vietnam. I was jealous of Scott because he spent over a month in Vietnam to capture so many beautiful pictures. I like the title: from each window, the creators invite readers to see Vietnam in different angles. However, Vietnam is still a mysterious country because the windows’ frames do not let audience view the whole Vietnam. Thus, readers eagerly want to discover more about Vietnam.

I am honored to be a speaker among these distinguished people:  Photographer and Attorney Scott Clarkson, and Poet Veita Joe Hampton.
This is the first time my professors have let their hummingbird leave the San Jose State University Nest to fly to Palos Verdes Library to sing poetry. I am carrying the mission to praise my professors’ teaching, American kindness, and greedy learning. Learning and gratitude are the beauties of Vietnamese culture, which attracted Attorney Scott to travel over the oceans to explore them.
This is also the third time I have been in Southern California since I came to the United States. Each visit has been a significant milestone in my life. The first time my friend offered me a trip to Los Angeles to welcome 2001 New Year when I transferred to San Jose State. My second visit to the south was when I finished my bachelor’s degree. I wrote the poem Prayer, forGovernor Schwarzenegger while I was watching the 2005 countdown on TV. I told my friend the wish to be a Vietnamese-American writer. My friend encouraged me with the French proverb, “Vouloir c’est pouvoir,” “If there is a will, there is a way.” This time I am here with my first poetry baby, Yellow Flower, in my hand.

What makes me different?
American equal education, freedom, and generous people who open their arms to welcome us. If Windows to Vietnam is written about Vietnam through the American eyes, Yellow Flower, reveals the United States from the Vietnamese- American view. To me, the United States is a mighty handsome man like Attorney Scott Clarkson, and Vietnam is a gentle slender woman like Lily, my childhood friend.

I would like to read the poem, “America” READ

Thank you for giving me a chance to express my love of the United States with you.
I enjoy being here to learn about your community and city, Palos Verdes Peninsula.