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My Father Writes From Prison Lyrics by Ocean Vuong

Night Sky with Exit Wounds

2015

Lan oi,

Em khoe khong? Gio em dang o dau? Anh nho em va con qua. Hon nua & there are things / I can say only in the dark / how one spring / I crushed a monarch midflight / just to know how it felt / to have something change / in my hands / here are those hands / some nights they waken when touched / by music or rather the drops of rain / memory erases into music / hands reaching for the scent of lilacs / in the moss-covered temple a shard / of dawn in the eye of a dead / rat your voice on the verge of / my hands that pressed the 9mm to the boy's twitching cheek I was 22 the chamber / empty I didn't know / how easy it was / to be gone these hands / that dragged the saw through bluest 4 a.m. / cricket screams the kapok's bark spitting / in our eyes until one or two collapsed / the saw lodged in blue dark until one or three / started to run from their country into / their country / the ak-47 the lord whose voice will stop / the lilac / how to close the lilac / that opens daily from my window / there's a lighthouse / some nights you are the light house / some nights the sea / what this means is that I don't know / desire other than the need / to be shattered & rebuilt / the mind forgetting / the body's crime of living / again dear Lan or / Lan oi what does it matter / there's a man in the next cell who begs / nightly for his mother's breast / a single drop / I think my eyes are like his / watching the night bleed through / the lighthouse night that cracked mask / I wear after too many rifle blows / Lan oi! Lan oi! Lan oi! / I'm so hungry / a bowl of rice / a cup of you / a single drop / my clock-worn girl / my echo trapped in '88 / the cell's too cold tonight & there are things / I can say only when the monarchs / no longer come / with wings scraping against the piss-slick floor for fragments of a / phantom woman I push my face / against a window the size of your palm where / beyond the shore / a grey dawn lifts the hem of your purple dress / & I ignite.

About “My Father Writes From Prison” by Ocean Vuong

Read the complete lyrics to "My Father Writes From Prison" by Ocean Vuong from the album "Night Sky with Exit Wounds" in 2015. On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Non-Music, Literature.

"My Father Writes From Prison" is performed by Ocean Vuong. from the album "Night Sky with Exit Wounds" in 2015 This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "My Father Writes From Prison", explore more songs by Ocean Vuong using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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Frequently asked questions

"My Father Writes From Prison" is credited to Ocean Vuong. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

"My Father Writes From Prison" appears on "Night Sky with Exit Wounds" in 2015.

Visit the Ocean Vuong artist page at /artist/ocean-vuong for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.


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