by Glenn Meisenheimer
© Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved
In the deepest dark of night
A chilling mist came swirling down
To soak the trees and soak the grass
And roofs and streets of Hanoi town.
Huddled on the sidewalk there
With only newsprint for a bed
Two children shivered in the cold
And thought about the day ahead.
Hung was just a boy of five.
His sister Hang was nine or ten.
Together they'd walk hand in hand
Through Hanoi's teeming streets again.
Their parents dead, the pair condemned
To walk with that unceasing tread,
Fifteen, twenty miles a day,
In search of rice or soup or bread
From stoic unknown strangers
Who'd mutter as the kids go by,
"There but for the grace of God,
In despair, go you or I."
Like swirling mist in deepest night
Hope is an elusive thing
That favors neither lowest serf
Nor merchant, Lord or even King.
But Hung, despite unlikely odds,
Held firmly to his thread of hope.
It was that which drove him on
And which enabled him to cope.
Child traffickers found them at last
They kidnapped Hang, left Hung alone
In bitter tears he wept her loss.
His family gone, his fate unknown.
It was hope that made him wait
Two long years for her to run,
Sad hope, at last, that drove him on
To Saigon when his wait was done.
When you read the hero's tale
The road is paved with many tests,
Paved with battles and with trials,
Paved as well with epic quests.
To find his way down to Saigon
Hung had to ride atop a train.
For two full days it snaked it's way
Through Vietnam's diverse terrain.
And laying flat he held on tight,
Not letting vigilence retire.
To sit up but invited death
From tunnel or electric wire.
And like the heros sung of old,
When his test was finally passed,
The gods smiled down upon that boy
And gave him his reward at last.
A travling stranger saw him there.
And found for him a family,
And sponsored him for thirteen years
Through school and university.
When Hung at last earned his degree
His hope paid off in the long run.
For in all the university
Little Hung ranked number one!
Dear reader, understand this well,
There was no future bathed in light,
No guarantee nor promise made,
Yet hope and effort changed Hung's plight.
So when you're down and feeling low
Like you have given your last bit,
Recall this tale of Pham Van Hung,
The little boy who wouldn't quit....