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64 - Crude Poem Inspired by the Landscape
"I have been detained and obstacles have been put in my
way for half a year.
Melancholy and hate gather on my face.
Now that I must return to my country,
I have toiled like the jingwei bird in vain."
Angel Island Immigration StationWall Carvings
• Author compares him- or herself to a Chinese folk legend
• All his/her suffering has been for nothing
• "Nation of immigrants" rejects other immigrants
51 [I hastened here for the sake of my stomach and landed promptly in jail.]
• Author left China to escape starvation
• "They treat us Chinese badly and feed us yellowed greens" - salted cabbage
• Highlights racism in America
• Contradicts pride in the "melting pot" mentality
"
"If there comes a day when I will have attained my ambition and become successful."
Tell me your names,
tell me your bashful names
and I will testify.
the inventory lists ten slaves
but only men were recognized
"
- She wants to know the names of the slaves because she feels that they were not honored and she wants to testify on their behalf and recognize them
- She also points out that only men were recognized on the list of inventory
-Implying that this American dream is not only a white privilege, but only a man's privilege as well
The narrator is visiting a graveyard reflecting on the work done. They realize that recognition is not given to whom it should be given to.
"Lucille Clifton." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2013.
"Counting on my fingers, several months have elapsed.
Still I am at the beginning of the road.
I have yet to be interrogated.
My heart is nervous with anticipation."
"nobody mentioned the slaves." The slaves didn't ever have a name in society other than in fact what they were, slaves. Then the author points out the plantations work was done by the slaves, the tools that were used to upkeep the property were used by the slaves, "have their fingerprints on them" "But nobody mentioned the slaves"
"Being idle in the wooden building, I opened a window."
"Why else do we come to this place to be imprisoned?"
By: Lucile Clifton
"The Western styled buildings are lofty; but I have
not the luck to live in them.
How was anyone to know that my dwelling place
would be a prison?"