Summers were once my own.Now I spend themChasing someone else’s dreamsTo fulfill unspoken obligations… Unspoken obligations which bind meLike the feet of my ancestorsBack in my homeland China. “Become a doctor,” they say,As if there is no alternative. But didn’t they come to America,The land of the free,In the pursuit of liberty? Liberty’s served best…
Come yonderTo the land of opportunitiesWhere the brave, free, strongDwell.Come yonder, to the land of the westWhere modern, progressive, democratic thoughtPersists. Come hither and experience the hierarchy ofRace and class and sex. Some are born lucky,They are the kingsWho reap rewardsFrom the pawns’Labor of early dawns. The place where the dirt-poorCan rise to the top?Or the…
one two three four five six seven eight nine Finally I know which language I think in.
Prologue Not everyone goes through this. It could be quite a distorting experience, rooting half of your life in one country, and settling in another. You would always imagine, what if? What if I left earlier? What if I stayed? Will life turn out to be different? The illusion that people often get when they…
A secret is sometimes a prima-donna. It revels in its understated performance: it doesn’t find power in volume. Rather, it finds its power in the silence. ex.) In middle school, where you would lean into your friend’s ear and tell them who you had a crush on with a quietness that was almost sacred. It…
“Don’t let boys ruin your life. School should come first. Girls who play with boys are shameful,” my mom said to me when I was in middle school. I would hear these words frequently years later, especially when she was mad at my dad, and each time, the harsh connotations of the statement would be…