Petite Pause: Monarchs

“Migration can be triggered by the angle of sunlight, indicating a change in the season, temperature, plant life, and food supply. Female monarchs lay eggs along the route. Every history has more than one thread, each thread a story of division. The journey takes four thousand eight hundred and thirty miles, more than the length of this country. The monarchs that fly south will not make it back north. Each departure, then, is final. Only their children return; only the future revisits the past.”

—Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

Through an intimate letter from a Vietnamese American son to his illiterate mother, Vuong masterfully explores themes of love, trauma, and the immigrant experience. This critically acclaimed book has captivated readers worldwide with its lyrical prose and profound storytelling. | Excerpt from ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS: A NOVEL© 2019 by Ocean Vuong. Used by permission of Penguin Press, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

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