Acrobat

Stuck in a plastic chair
here, in the grey room, grounded.
Why are you here, Minh?
He frowns.  "CES send me.
I been unemploy two year."
What did you do in your country?
"In Viet Nam I was in circus."

Now I see him.  The acrobat.
Muscular arms and chest
narrowing to a slender waist.
Strong legs.
"I used to do tight-rope.
But because communist, I come here."

How many walls did he vault, I wonder,
how many somersaults
before he asked himself:
the tight-rope or the net?