Poetry by Bunkong Tuon

    Billy Bergen CC




Prayer for the Beautiful Ones
“Whatever I’ve been through in my life cannot compare to the gift of life." Dorianne Laux 

In a country of war, flowers flourish. 
You must flourish too. 

Do you know why we exist?
To laugh, play, and love like children.

Remember, bullies and racists have small balls
for brains. Live to spite them. 

Oh, Beautiful One, you are a firefly in the dark summer night. 
Without you, the world dims. 

My Butterfly in Waiting, remember the flowers,
How they gravitate towards the sun.                 

Open the window, let sunlight kiss your face, 
Let it caress your true form. 

Feel bliss on your golden wings.




*If you or someone you know is feeling desperate, alone, or hopeless call 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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BUNKONG TUON is a Cambodian American writer, Pushcart Prize–winning poet, and professor who teaches at Union College in Schenectady, in NY. His work has appeared in World Literature Today, Copper Nickel, New York Quarterly, Massachusetts Review, diode poetry, Verse Daily, among others. His Greatest Hits chapbook, What Is Left, was published by Jacar Press in March 2024. His debut novel, Koan Khmer (Northwestern/Curbstone Press), will be published in August 2024. He is poetry editor of Cultural Daily.