Behind the thin smoke of the incense,
the flowers and the lamp,
photographs of loved ones
lost.
Suppose Octavio wanted to show Linh that he had taken the time to learn about her culture and that he “got” why her family’s altar was so important to her. Since it’s important to him to express his thoughts and feelings accurately, Octavio might decide to put them into words in writing first, before talking to Linh about his new perspective on her family’s traditions. After all, Octavio was named after the famous Mexican poet, Octavio Paz, and he had tried his hand at poetry a couple of times already.
First, Octavio made a list of words representing the specific details he had learned about Vietnamese family altars and the customs that go with them.
- incense
- flower
- oil lamp
- photographs
- bowl
- fruits
- jade
- emperor
- honor
- ancestors
- stories
- celebration
Next, Octavio wove the words together into sentences. Use the slides below to see how he created a poem that expressed his understanding of the family altar and what it means.
