In Ocean Vuong's poem "Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong", the persona appears to be an older man speaking to the young Ocean Vuong who is himself. The persona is acting like a parent of the young Ocean which creates a feeling of self-parenting.
From the first few lines, I get the feeling that the young Ocean has suffered from old memories. The poem opens with a direct command:" Ocean, don't be afraid" that is comforting the young Ocean. Later, the speaker urgently checks in, asking "are you listening". These two lines split the self into two distinct roles. The first one, who is speaking, offers reassurance for the second one which is the young Ocean. The persona frequently calls Ocean and gives guidance like "Ocean. Ocean/ get up" to provide support for Ocean to walk through all the bad things that happened to him
The specific use of the persona leaves a deeper meaning. Instead of creating a scene or describing something, this poem brings the reader into a private room to listen to the conversation. Therefore, we can see the painful memories. Ocean shows us the frightening realities he faced and provides the guidance through his persona that transforms pain into an active process of healing.