Natalie Linh Bolderston

---

---

Lục Bát for Tết

            Like this we trap a god:
mix dragon pearls with hot water,
            gather every daughter
who kneels through the torture of her
            hunger. Avoid the curse
of mirrored doorways; nurse your sick
            before the ghosts come. Slick
red balm on swollen wrists, hide sores
            that blare sharp as a chor-
us of suns. Close the door on bad
            wind; let the child with fat
earlobes enter first. Scatter lì
            xì on the young and de-
mons will not come. No meat today;
            no fire in the throat. Pray
for bloated souls and pay your debts
            to the living. Wear red
but conceal your blood; let all o-
            mens of wounds lie still. Know
that hoa mai trees still grow in your
            uncle’s garden, that your
fortune will hold. Pile your shrines with
            bánh chưng chay, măng cụt; wit-
ness the dead stir with myths of spring.

Note: Tết is the Vietnamese word for the Lunar New Year celebration. The Lục Bát is a Vietnamese poetic form with lines that alternate between 6 and 8 syllables and follow a specific rhyme scheme.

---

---

---

---

NATALIE LINH BOLDERSTON is a Vietnamese-Chinese-British poet. In 2020, she received an Eric Gregory Award and co-won the Rebecca Swift Women Poets’ Prize. Her pamphlet, The Protection of Ghosts, is published with V. Press.