Inside Out And Back Again

“I vow / to rise first every morning / to stare at the dew / on the green fruit / shaped like a lightbulb. / I will be the first / to witness its ripening.”

Hà wants to be the first to see the ripe papaya because her brothers, being taller, saw the tree’s blossoms and fruit first. These lines show Hà’s sense of ownership over the papaya tree and her spirited desire to get what she wants despite being the youngest.

“Everyone’s future changed / upon learning the name / Hồ Chí Minh.”

Hà wishes for Mother to retell old stories of her youth and marriage to Father. In Mother’s story, she and Father marry and move to South Vietnam to live further from the North’s Communist influence. Hồ Chí Minh was an influential communist Party revolutionary and became President of North Vietnam after the country divided into Communist North Vietnam and non-Communist South Vietnam. Hà knows from Mother’s stories that “land was taken away, / houses now belonged to the state” (27-28); this reference from the early days of Mother’s marriage to Father fits the time period of Hồ Chí Minh’s land reform programs in the North.

“‘Yam and manioc / taste lovely / blended with rice,’ / she says, and smiles, / as if I don’t know / how the poor / fill their children’s bellies.”

Hà reacts to Mother’s attempt to brighten the food shortages as war approaches their home near Saigon. Despite Mother’s work as a seamstress, there is not enough money for rice for their family of five. The worsening food situation is a primary reason for Mother’s decision to leave the country with the children.