Generation VK

The rate of being white here
was 60,000 dong

until it doubled when Club
Apocalypse Now expanded

six months ago. Cost is something else.
But we have our ways—speaking

English as we reach the steps, meeting
the manager as he talks to our white

bosses and friends, and giving tips
to show we’re not locals. But this

isn’t new. We’ve paid this way
long before we came to this

place. But to do it here
where we know oi means guava

is difficult to accept. But
even here, our words can’t help us

because we know American Dollar
both American and dollar

cannot be insulted
and when we try

even we see our own trying,
And the English we speak

is but 60,000 dong.