The Emperor of Gladness

by Ocean Vuong

“Grazina! Who’s the president?” “Jesus Christ!” she’d shout up, annoyed. “Obama!”

Though he’d had his troubles, the boy couldn’t say he had a bad life.

Some of our leaders are even lizards in disguise.

Everybody’s so sorry about what they don’t know shit about.”

“To be alive and try to be a decent person, and not turn it into anything big or grand, that’s the hardest thing of all.

I don’t think we’re made to hold too much of any one thing.”