In the reading, "How Do I Begin? A Hmong American Literacy", Mai writes a poem titled "To Make a Return". This poem discussed how children of refugees from the war often feel as though they are abnormal and outcasted living in a new diasporic society. A feeling that I often resonate with as a first gen from those who escaped the war themselves. Mai writes about common experiences the ordinary American child may experience and shadows these experiences with the burden first generation students may encounter battling both Western and Southeast Asian cultures. She writes about the loss of ones identity, losing grip to your ancestral traits, the usage of your native language slipping away. Something that I found most personable were not only these obstacles of juggling two different cultures but also the hardship of trying to build your own 'identity' and finding out who you truly want to showcase to the world.

The poem also identifies the common struggles both new refugees and their children face. She writes about the losses her parents had to face leaving what they called home, the struggles they face such as language barriers, the sentimental items from their homeland that they keep away from reminding them of the horrors, and the etches of the war marking her parents face. In relation to the "Secret War" she makes comment about how growing up she felt as though she must "become invisible by turning off your voice", which symbolizes how the war was portrayed to the world: invisible and silenced.

Pos Moua writes to humanize the everyday Hmong American experience, beyond war stories. His quiet, reflective poems speak of survival, family, and cultural tension. I find comfort in his honesty—he captures moments of belonging and struggle that mirror the immigrant experience broadly.