Happy Lunar New Years!
Chuc Mung Nam Moi
It’s a time to celebrate and
humble ourselves in our richness
my mom wishes for long fortune and good luck
this year I’m just wondering if her red envelope has 50 or 5 bucks
cause I’m need help
I is hella broke this year
being a youth counselor is awesome
but working nonprofit is not the most highest paying career

I love the time of a year
it’s the coming of spring
it also when drunk uncles and aunties
bust out the karaoke machine and pretend they can sing

it reminds us of what we have
and for me, it especially reminds me of
where I live
the past year
Stockton Blvd of Sacramento has been officially designated
“Little Saigon”
you’d think they figure out sooner
considering the hundreds of the Vietnamese nail saloons
its where I grew up - I call it home
this place is the best
one place to cut your hair, eat pho, drink bolba &
rent bootleg VHS

Vietnamese New years in particular
is called Tet
we celebrate it at Hoi Choi Festivals
they serve a bounty of food
all ingredients are provided locally
and it’s the only time and place you can
gamble in public and drink Heinekens openly

 It’s a time for family
friends and
traditions
for example
when I gamble at “Bau Cua Ca Cop”
I only bet on chicken

Lets all let this changing of moons
change our outlook from here on out
lets love, dream and give sincere
lets celebrate our ancestors and 
Happy
Lunar
New Year

__________________

Shout out to Crystal, VSA and the beautiful APIA community of UC Davis for having me at the 2012 New Years Festival. It was a hot mess but hope yall had fun like I did!