Listen to Tony spit some bars thru his newly first public reading of his new poem called "Khao Mah" or "Come In" !!!
Check out the corresponding conversation between Rita and Tony titled: E16: Tony Innouvong on being a conduit for Lao familial legacies + creating “Het Dee Dai Dee” brand + mom as inspiration
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FULL VERSE HERE:
"Come In
I walk into my mothers kitchen, the aroma of heritage and history kicks me in the face,
Seated on a stool fit for a child, she’s hunched over a metal bowl
Her hands strong, calluses born on her palms from kneading a first generation,
There’s a certain focus as her fingers flicker through the flour
Dust sprinkled across her floral sinh
She throws a brief glance, eyes worn from being my mother and father,
And uses her lips to point at the knife she’s used for the last decade to cut noodles for Khao piek sen
These are the original pouty duck lips, just ask her and my aunties
The same lips that learned to speak just enough Lao-Lish to assimilate into a culture she was fostered into
The result of a war she never enlisted in yet still fought on the frontlines to give her seeds a chance to breathe
Shrapnel and warpaint scarred on her sleeves
puffed veins of blue blood protruding along her skin flow like the Mekong from the fold of her arm to her wrist
As clear as the line on my father’s heart monitor before he fell asleep,
She’s never seen him in her dreams she says,
And neither have I but I know he’s saved my life once or twice before,
I remember being called into her room with my younger sister and the talk of dad consumed us into tears,
We were three, holding each other until the salt crystallized on our faces,
Sometimes I wonder how many of my mother’s tears I’ve swallowed,
How they cascaded from her brown eyes into that mixing bowl,
Weaving its way into the recipes I’ve come to crave,
Khao piek sen on a sick day,
Khao niew gup guew on a lazy day,
Khao chao gup sa ew on a broke day,
But “Khao mah,”
“Khao mah” is what I really wanna say,
come here, come in, come hold,
I’m here, with you, for you,
Let’s embrace
Khao mah, Mae,
Hard times aren’t here to stay,
She knows but she’s still tired of being resilient and I can sense it in her tone,
She’s a real OG,
Immigrant in her bones,
I’d wash away her stains if I could but she’d just tell me it rains for a reason - to cleanse today for tomorrow"
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HUGE SHOUT OUTS TO:
Laos Angeles Roots Members Andrew David Vilaythong for mixing/producing the beats for HOL and "mystery person" @LaosSupply for the beautiful logo design!