The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Vuong, Ocean. Time Is a Mother. Penguin Random House LLC, 2022.

Ocean Vuong's Time Is a Mother is a collection of 28 poems. The poems collected herein employ a range of poetic structures, tonal registers, and temporal representations. The following summary presents a streamlined synopsis of these works and relies upon the present tense.

In "The Bull," when a bull mysteriously appears in the speaker's yard, he feels powerless not to confront him. When he touches the bull, he feels as if he is entering a new realm through which he understands himself.

In Part One, "Snow Theory," the speaker is glad that he has not hurt anyone or anything in some time. Then, when he sees a report of violence on television, he realizes the inescapability of loss.

In "Dear Peter," during his stay in a rehabilitation center, the speaker thinks about his partner, Peter. He wants Peter to know that he is wearing his socks to make himself feel better. He also wants to tell Peter that this time he will get better and be better.

In "Skinny Dipping," the speaker remembers jumping from bridges as a young boy. He used to think he would die during the jumps, but the jumps just made him feel alive.

In "Beautiful Short Loser," the speaker dances through the streets in a wedding dress. He thinks about the people he has lost. When he encounters a cop, he assures the officer he is not high, but simply living outside of time.

In "Old Glory," a collection of voices talks about their successes. They use colloquial phrases saturated with images of death and violence.

In "You Guys," while brushing his teeth, the speaker tells his friends he wants to help them. Then he apologizes that his only tool and skill involves using language.

In "Dear Sara," after his cousin Sara complains about the uselessness of writing, the speaker tries to convince her otherwise.

In "American Legend," while the speaker and his father are driving to the clinic to put their dog down, the speaker crashes the car, presumably killing his father. In retrospect, he wonders if he did it on purpose to manufacture closeness with his father.

In "The Last Dinosaur," the speaker reflects on his cultural history and ancestry, wondering how they have contributed to his identity.

In Part Two, "Rise & Shine," after stealing his mother's tip money for drugs, the speaker makes her eggs to preemptively atone for his sin.

In "The Last Prom Queen in Antarctica," the speaker watches a McDonald's worker crying in his car in the parking lot. He imagines all the things he would say to comfort the boy.

In "Dear T," the speaker tries to bring his late friend, T, back to life via writing. He realizes that no matter the arrangement of the words, they will never resurrect T.

In "Waterline," the speaker presents a series of hypothetical scenarios in order to imagine a life in which not everything is tinged with death.

In "Not Even," while riding an Amtrak train, the speaker starts crying when he sees a man standing in a field. A nearby woman notices and comforts him. Afterwards, the speaker realizes the experience was related to his mother's passing and the passage of time.

In "Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker," the speaker presents his late mother's Amazon order history from 21 consecutive months. The purchases trace her life from health to cancer diagnosis to death.

In "Nothing," one day while shoveling snow and baking bread with his partner, Peter, the speaker realizes that nothing can save their relationship.

In "Scavengers," after having sex with his lover, the speaker imagines their bodies as two fish gasping for air on a beach.

In Part Three, "Künstlerroman," the speaker describes his experience watching a movie character's life in reverse. As he rewinds the film, the character's life blurs with his own life. Suddenly he is imagining himself crawling back into his friends' wrecked car and waiting for them to resurrect.

In "Reasons for Staying," the speaker lists all of his reasons for remaining in his New England childhood town.

In Part Four, "Ars Poetica as the Maker," the speaker describes why he is a writer and what writing has given to him.

In "Toy Boat," the speaker writes a poem memorializing Tamir Rice's life and death.

In "The Punctum," the speaker's visit to the Smithsonian makes him reflect on historical erasures.

In "Tell Me Something Good," the speaker finds himself back in the scenes of his past with his childhood self. He knows his childhood self longs for someone to tell him everything will be okay. The speaker's adult self endeavors to engage the child in conversation.

In "No One Knows the Way to Heaven," the speaker imagines all the things he would say to his unborn child.

In "Almost Human," the speaker recalls how language both debilitated and saved him. He wants to believe that language has the power to change and transform.

In "Dear Rose," the speaker writes to his mother after her death. He wants her to know that their life was beautiful. He wants his writing to mean something, and to create a space in which he can communicate with his mother and transform himself.

In "Woodworking at the End of the World," the speaker is resurrected from the dead. He lies back down, waiting for something to happen. After a little boy approaches and forgives the speaker, the speaker thinks of his life and feels free.