Sunday, April 19, 2009

giles li

yesterday saw giles li, a community activist and slam poet (who coincidentally works in a community center in my grandmother's condo building) perform and talk as the keynote speaker for asian heritage month. really liked his performance and his poems none of which i remember well enough to quote but i always find it amazing how much word twisting and texture can go into these poems that are also embedded with meaning both for the poet and for the listener. even though most of his poems cover pretty serious stuff, he kept the show light with lots of talking and stories and some acoustic guitar.

here's one of his poems that he didn't perform, but that i found on his website and really liked (remember what i said about some of his poems being serious/a bit of downers):

For Bang Mai, 16
stabbed to death on July 11, 2004 in South Boston

The sky is getting darker.
We’re losing our stars one at a time
to streets that don’t hear prayers
and calls to stop the violence.

Our sons are dying in the city scenes they call home
as their mothers send breakfast-time chants in their direction,
keeping them safe until streetlights come clean
to serve as makeshift guardian angels.
A generation disappearing before its light has a chance
to shine through,
etch its shadow in our minds,
decorate our night sky with spirits
we can remember without having to try.

A generation disappearing, begging for blessings
from anyone who might have them to give.

It’s harder to notice stars from the city
because lights from the ground
make them harder to see.
Another one of our stars has fallen to the ground,
and all we can do is keep our heads up,
eyes toward the heavens,
and wish there was an answer that
would keep our night sky from falling,
falling,
trying to lull us back to sleep.

But it’s hard to find sleep tonight,
because looking into the sky,
we know another one of our stars was taken
before his time.

copyright Giles Li, 2004

Sunday, April 5, 2009

abduction of boys in china: nyt quote of the day

"a girl is just not as good as a son. it doesn’t matter how much money you have. if you don’t have a son, you are not as good as other people who have one."

su qingcai, a tea farmer in China who paid $3,500 for a 5-year-old boy

so this was the quote of the day today in the new york times and my only reaction really is ew. i mean i have others too. like how still in china girls just aren't as good as boys - the stigma clearly thrives given the article this comes out of about how there's a lucrative business in kidnapping and selling boys. and that's not even half the problem...i mean i know it's not the focus of the article but how much must it suck to be a girl there. you have to be good so your parents can be proud of you and you have to make up for the fact that you're a girl and not a boy. egad. it's sad that people see such justification in buying up boys to make their family better.