Karmic Retribution

Annie Liones Nguyen

I do not believe in revenge, but I do
believe in something called karmic retribution.
When you go home, a gallant victor who defeated

the people’s enemy, your daughter will have
a murderer for a father, and your granddaughter
will have a killer for a grandfather. And my daughter

will continue to be dead and raped. My granddaughter
will know no pain of loss, for she will not exist. If she did,
she will learn of your names in history books. She will

smell the gunpowder and bodies burning at the
gates of her people’s villages. She will learn that
peace did not come easy, for you who advocated for

peace, selected people who are worthy of peace
to live in peace, while the rest became unwilling pawns
in a battle that we never asked for but is bestowed upon.

You will not know peace when you lay down
in your warm bed, for you will hear my daughter’s voice
fill your eardrums as you go to sleep. She will beg you to

stop and you will not stop until you get what
you wanted. And when you meet Saint Peter, you will see
her at the pearly gates. But you will not go beyond. You will

arrive at the gates of hell. When you pass by
Cerberus, you will see where I have been waiting for you,
and I will become the definition of your karmic retribution.

---

Annie Liones Nguyen
Annie Liones Nguyen is a Vietnamese-Singaporean writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Her poetry works explore themes of humanism, grief, existentialism and empowerment, and can be found or is forthcoming in The Holy Art, Artist Talk Magazine, Trouble Maker Fire Starter, Verum Literary Press, Musing Publications, New Note Poetry and other literary magazines and art exhibitions. Find her at www.annielionesnguyen.com