For Love of Another Trinh T. Minh-Ha

When J. Vincent Hansen Vietnam was when darkness covered the earth and the oft-sighted light at the end of the tunnel was nothing more than a blazing Buddhist monk

crossed feet joined hands a man without words without cries    confesses his flame on the screen behind the fire the witnesses watch the flickering in a last tongue of flame for a while it burns the living torch of an entire people of an entire people reduced to silence today a man burns in a dark fire on a scarlet sky little by little he is consumed illuminating mute the crowd riveted to his side falls prostrate as the last view is extinguished the faithful turn over the ashes collecting one by one the carbonized remains out of strong desire to preserve replace in the fire his heart remained intact his heart remained intact