This poignant poem by a Vietnamese Catholic nun, who burned herself to death in 1967 as a protest against the Vietnam war, was the starting point for Elliot Goldenthal's 1995 musical memorial to that war, Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio.

Goldenthal is best known for his block-buster film scores like Batman Forever and Alien 3, but he is a composer who defies classification. When Fire Water Paper was first performed to an audience of war veterans and local Vietnamese, near Los Angeles, it elicited a powerful emotional response.

Tender and lyrical, Fire Water Paper crosses the boundaries between 'high' and 'low' art, and has universal appeal.